She looked rueful and I felt suddenly sorry for her. Eddie didn’t sound as if he was much help. I wondered how she’d cope once there was another baby on the scene.

‘Oh gawd, Alfie – don’t do that!’ Lucy had looked up in time to see the little boy about to pop a wriggling worm into his mouth.

‘Why not? The birdies does.’

‘Well, we’re not like the birdies. We don’t live in the trees, do we?’

Alfie looked skyward, as though considering the possibilities of this statement. We both laughed.

‘Oh, the joys of motherhood.’ She grinned. ‘You’ve got all this to come. No wonder he had such an upset tummy after we came round to see you. God knows what he puts in his mouth. I did wonder if it might’ve been the cakes the old dear gave him, but he’d probably eaten something off the floor, knowing him.’

My stomach lurched. I recalled the coldness in Mrs Barley’s eyes when she’d looked at Lucy, and how Alfie had trampled all over her precious garden. Surely she wouldn’t have put something in the cakes? No; it was a ridiculous notion. But I thought of what Lucy had said about there being rumours about the old woman, and remembered that Jack had suggested I do some digging.

‘I was wondering, do you know why people round here seem to have it in for Mrs Barley? She’s always been very good to us, but I’m curious to find out if there’s something we ought to know.’

She chewed her lip, looking thoughtful. ‘She was always a miserable old cow when we were kids. Banging on her window, telling us to clear off if we were hanging around anywhere near her garden wall, that sort of thing. And woe betide anyone who dared to knock on her door on Halloween. She’s hardly ever left that house, from what I can gather, even when her fella was alive.’

‘Really?’ I’d assumed that Mrs Barley had become more reclusive since Frank died.

She nodded vigorously. ‘I’ve always found her a bit creepy. Like I told you, we used to play that game – rat-a-tat ginger we call it round here – you know, when kids rap on someone’s door and run off. One of my mates was sure she heard her talking away to herself through the window when she went up the path once – said it sounded like she was chanting or something. Weird. It freaked her out.’ She pulled a face. ‘And then, there were the rumours about the cats …’

‘What rumours?’