Tommy looked up at her and clearly decided he wasn’t going to get away with not explaining what had happened. So he recounted meeting Alfie and agreeing to get in the car, and ending up at the pub with him. ‘I didn’t mean anything by it,’ he said mournfully. ‘He was being nice, that’s all.’

Sarah gazed up at the ceiling in frustration. ‘Tommy, this is Alfie Delaney we’re talking about. He’s never nice – or if he is there’ll be some other reason behind it. What did he want?’

Tommy’s face contorted with the effort of remembering. ‘Wanted to know about my job,’ he said slowly. ‘And asked if Kitty had a boyfriend. I said no, she didn’t.’

Sarah gave an involuntary shiver. The man had had no business taking Tommy into a pub – he was far too young. Maybe, just maybe, he’d done it as a gesture of friendship, she told herself. Then she shook her head. That wasn’t likely. What had he really wanted? It was unlikely to be anything good.

The boy had almost dozed off at the table. ‘Tommy, when is Kitty due back?’ She shook him by the shoulder.

‘Dunno,’ he said dully, slumping back down against the table. He looked pathetically young in the dim gaslight.

Sarah thought quickly. ‘You should have something to eat, soak up all the beer,’ she said. ‘I’ll go home and see what Mam has got and bring something over. All right? Probably best you don’t come over and let everyone see you like this.’

Tommy mumbled something and Sarah took it for agreement. She didn’t want to leave him alone, but knew that Dolly would have a fit if she knew the boy was in this state. That wouldn’t help matters. If she could nip across and grab a bowl of something hot, she might manage to help him improve a little before Kitty returned. She couldn’t leave him alone for long though. What if he was sick? She was pretty sure he wasn’t used to alcohol. He’d never been allowed it at home, or not officially anyway, and there was no way on earth that Joan and Seth would have given him any. She could not tell how much he’d had now, but she wanted to keep an eye on him, or at least until his sister finished her shift. Sarah knew from several cases at the hospital how dangerous a large intake of alcohol could be. She couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to Tommy.