“Oh, I know that,” said Yvonne, with a pout that made her look thirty years younger for a moment. “Sorry, I’m just being provocative. Dad certainly wasn’t like that. I don’t think he was a rotten apple at all. A bit strict, yes. Conservative, square. He didn’t like the hippies and all that, but I never once heard him say a bad word about colored people or gays. And he wouldn’t hit them or harass them just because he didn’t approve of them. He liked to pretend to be a crusty right-wing curmudgeon when I was defending the workers and the students and so on, but I believe at heart he was a liberal. He believed in a fair deal for everyone. He hated privilege. He didn’t really want to go to Caxton’s ball, you know. He only did it for Mum.”

“Did he ever say anything about gays?”

“If he did, I don’t remember. Only that argument I told you about, when Mum mentioned queers.”

“Did he ever mention the name Tony Monaghan?”

“Not that I heard.”

“Do you remember anything at all about a body found in the public toilets at Hyde Park up by the university?”

“I remember it vaguely, but I don’t remember when, or any details. I mean, when you’re a copper’s daughter you probably do pay a bit more attention to such things than someone else would. But I wasn’t really interested in crime stories. True or fictional. I do know those toilets were supposed to be a hotbed of gay activity. Everybody knew that. There was a rumor going round at school that the police used to hide up in the ceiling there and watch through peepholes to catch the gays at it.”

“Maybe it’s true,” said Banks, smiling. Many public conveniences did serve as meeting places for homosexuals, he remembered. His father had always warned him to stay away from certain public loos, even in Peterborough.

Yvonne laughed. “I couldn’t see my dad up there spying on people through a peephole. He was tolerant on the whole.” She laughed again. “Except with me, of course.”

Banks stood up, and Winsome followed suit. “Well, maybe he had that in common with a lot of fathers. Thanks, Yvonne. You’ve been very helpful.”

“I have?”

“Well, we know more now than we did before we came, so I’d call that a successful visit, wouldn’t you?”

“I suppose so.”

Banks handed her his card. “In case you remember anything else. Call me anytime.”

“I’M AFRAID I didn’t follow your advice very well, did I?” said Annie glumly swirling the last of her shiraz in the large wineglass. “A little tact. Softly, softly.”

“No. You did the ‘bull in a china shop with all guns blazing’ approach.”

“I didn’t think so, but since that bastard from Wytherton had his say, you probably do.”