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making it sound like an order. Katya duly obliged. She loved to talk about her family, and by the time ten minutes had passed, Alwen was much cheered. In fact, she said she felt so much better she thought she would get up.
    “Ivy and Roy will miss me at lunchtime otherwise,” she said. “They’re an odd pair, but quite friendly. At least, Roy is friendly. Not so sure about Ivy Beasley.”
    “Oh, don’t be deceived by Miss Beasley’s stern face,” Katya replied with a smile. “Her heart is made of gold, I am sure.”
    Alwen did not comment, being far from sure, but asked Katya to fetch her clean laundry. “I shall have a bath, and be quite restored,” she said.
    Katya left her then, and went back to the kitchen, where she told her friend that she thought Mrs. Wilson Jones would settle in well, once she and Miss Beasley had become firm friends.
     
     
    DEIRDRE AND GUS decided to have lunch in town so that they could discuss what they had discovered at the newspaper offices.
    “I never guessed anything like this,” Deirdre said. “I’d thought maybe William Jones had an affair with his secretary and Alwen divorced him, something like that.”
    “No, this is much more interesting,” Gus said. “Especially when you remember that the poor old thing has possibly been defrauded of twenty thousand pounds. Who was this mysterious financial adviser who persuaded her to part with it? And what is the real reason she won’t go to the police? I mean, Deirdre, if you think about it, a possible spat with your daughter wouldn’t stop you bringing in the cops, would it? I know you’re loaded, bless you, but twenty thousand pounds !”
    Deirdre nodded, not denying that she was loaded. In fact, it had occurred to her once or twice that Theo might be after an injection of cash into his impoverished estate, but as she had no intention of letting him get his hands on her money, she had pushed the idea aside. Now she said that however much more she had in the kitty, twenty thousand was a lot by anybody’s standards. “Have you got that photocopy the woman gave you? We’ll get Ivy and Roy together this afternoon and tell them what we’ve discovered.”
    “And meantime, I’ll give my old colleague a ring and see if I can find out more about that strange case in the village near Oakbridge. You remember, the one where the man was found dead at the foot of his stairs. Extortion was mentioned, and it might be connected with a racket working the territory in East Anglia. That kind of thing can lead to violence, as my former colleague was suggesting.”
    Deirdre made a face. “Very nasty!” she said. “Wouldn’t want that happening to our Alwen, would we?”
    “La Spurling and Miss Pinkney would be a match for any midnight intruder,” Gus said, laughing.
    Deirdre did not laugh. “They’re not there at night, Gus. And I reckon it would be child’s play to get into Springfields under the cover of darkness.”
    “But it’s all alarmed from top to toe!” Gus protested.
    “Alarms were made to be foiled,” Deirdre said. “I lost half my jewellery when a couple of evil professionals got into Tawny Wings when I was away. Nowhere is a hundred percent safe, if you ask me. . . .”
    “As Ivy says. So we will ask her. Come on, give her a bell and tell her we’re on our way.”

Eleven

    ONCE MORE THE interview room had been commandeered by Enquire Within, and Ivy had imperiously ordered tea for four to be brought in immediately.
    “You’d think she owned the place!” Mrs. Spurling had complained to Miss Pinkney, who, although always obedient, privately loved the idea of this extraordinary variation on the dull routine of Springfields. It made a welcome change from well-meaning volunteers organising sing-songs of old tunes, and wary-eyed children performing carols at Christmas. Even the whist and bingo faltered at times. But who in their right minds would want to play whist and bingo every day? And more residents were in