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she left, was she acting jittery at all?’
    ‘Oh, yes, love, I knew she was getting itchy feet. I said to Les, “you just wait and see. Our Gilly’s gonna be off again soon”. And she was.’
    ‘Did she ever mention being bothered by anyone?’
    ‘Whaddya mean, love?’ Deirdre asked, retrieving the saucepan and smoothing in a good dollop of cooling rhubarb into one of the pie cases.
    ‘I mean was a man pestering her?’ Hillary asked.
    ‘Oh, him. Yeah, Gilly did say someone fancied her. She got a bit giggly about it. Flowers and Valentine cards came for her, and all that sort of thing.’
    ‘Did they frighten her?’
    ‘I don’t think so. I think it pleased her. And I thought it did her self-confidence a bit of good, having a lad take a fancy to her, like. But she got sort of impatient with him for not comingforward. She said it was all very well having a secret and anonymous admirer and what have you, but you couldn’t hug and kiss a love letter, could you?’
    ‘So to your knowledge, she never had any real contact with him?’ Hillary pressed.
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Do you still have the letters?’ she asked hopefully.
    ‘Lumme, no. I reckon she took most of her stuff with her. Not that she had much. Didn’t believe in possessions, she didn’t. She said worldly goods just weighed you down.’
    ‘She packed her bags?’ Hillary said sharply, clearly taken by surprise.
    ‘Well, yerse, I think so,’ Deirdre said slowly. ‘Like I said, she never had much. But a few of her favourite clothes were gone. And some money she’d earned from making and selling some of her own jewellery at Bicester market. Beaten copper she said they were. Bit bulky for my taste, but she sold enough to get by.’
    Hillary nodded and glanced at Jimmy. No doubt they were both thinking the same thing: it didn’t quite fit the pattern. Both Judith Yelland and Meg Vickary had vanished without any sign of premeditation.
    ‘Did Gilly have a bank account? Credit cards, that sort of thing?’ Hillary asked sharply.
    ‘Oh, no, love. Gilly didn’t hold much with the … whatchamacallit – how did she put it? Being part of the establishment . That was it. She always kept her money close. Said banks were in league with the Devil – well, as good as.’ Deirdre laughed again. ‘I reckon most folks would now think the same thing, right?’
    Hillary nodded and agreed. ‘So what do you think happened to her, Mrs Tinkerton?’
    Deirdre’s smile faltered just a little. ‘Maybe she found some more gyppos to run off with. Or she’s gone abroad to where they live in them big tent things. She mentioned them once or twice. Out in Israel or some such place. I told her she didn’twant to be going out and messing in them sort of places. Can’t really remember what they’re called now.’
    ‘A kibbutz?’
    ‘Some word like that, I reckon. Oh, she’ll have found herself some sort of comfy little hideaway somewhere – she was always good at landing on her feet. Bit like a cat, like that. You’ll see, she’ll be fine.’
    And Hillary could see that Deirdre Tinkerton truly believed it. Apart from a lingering doubt perhaps, which was surely both natural and inevitable, that’s what Gilly’s mother genuinely believed.
    ‘OK. Well, thank you, Mrs Tinkerton. We’ll be in touch if we think of anything else we might need to know.’
    ‘That’s fine, my love, call any time. Sure you don’t want one?’ Deirdre nodded to a freshly crimped rhubarb pie.
    Hillary sighed, but again declined.
    She was silent in the car as Jimmy drove them back to HQ. Once again things had taken an unexpected turn. Even though it was early days, she could sense that this case just wasn’t going to play by the rules.
    Gilly, it seemed, had planned to leave. Her mother was sure she’d packed up at least a back-pack’s worth of stuff. And her mother was also convinced that she was safe and alive somewhere . Was that just a case of so much for a mother’s