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for your sister the priority it deserves.’
    Esther was simultaneously relieved and disturbed.
    ‘What will happen until Anne returns?’ she asked.
    ‘I daresay that they’ll have a temporary replacement.’
     
    Bernard Grocott felt the absence of the necessary woman more than anyone at the Home Office. Most of his colleagues were apostles of order; punctilious men who left their desks impressively tidy at the end of the day. Grocott, on the other hand, always left papers scattered about or cupboards open, confident that the former would be stacked neatly and the latter firmly shut by the time he got there the following morning. Confidential documents were invariably locked away in drawers. It was routine paperwork that cluttered his office and made him utterly reliant on Anne Horner. Since her disappearance, his desk had been a complete mess that waited to accuse him at the start of each day. Finding someone to take over her duties was thus of prime importance to him, so he was delighted when a woman was recommended by an acquaintance.
    ‘Have you done this kind of work before?’
    ‘Yes, I have, sir.’
    ‘And you know what’s involved?’
    ‘It was explained to me in full, sir.’
    ‘When can you start?’
    ‘Don’t you wish to see my references, sir?’ she asked, waving a sheaf of letters at him. ‘I’ve had a lot of experience.’
    ‘Someone has already spoken up on your behalf and his word is good enough for me. All that we have to decide is when you can take up your duties and what kind of remuneration you expect.’
    ‘As to the first question, sir, I can start at once if you wish.’
    Grocott let out an involuntary cry of joy. ‘That’s wonderful!’
    ‘As to the second question, sir, I’ll take the same wage as … the other woman. I’m sure it will be fair payment. I’m just glad to help you out, sir.’ She looked across at his untidy desktop. ‘I can see that I’m needed.’
    ‘I am hopelessly inclined towards chaos,’ he confessed.
    The undersecretary could not believe his luck. He had expected to have some difficulty finding a new cleaner but he had soon stumbled on one serendipitously. While confiding his problem to a group of friends at his club, he was given the name of a possible candidate and interviewed the woman in question the next day. Ruth Levitt was older, plainer and altogether more submissive than Anne Horner. Significantly, she was eager to step into the breach. Grocott was not only delighted to engage her, he knew that he could expect congratulations from his colleagues. Viscount Sidmouth, in particular, would be pleased. In solving a thorny problem, Grocott would earn the Home Secretary’s gratitude and admiration. They were factors that might one day ensure the undersecretary’s promotion.
    ‘What time would you like me to start, sir?’ asked Ruth.
    ‘As soon as we quit the building,’ he replied. ‘There’s a lot to do, I fear.’
    ‘I’m not afraid of hard work, sir.’
    ‘Then I suggest that you start here in my office.’
    She gave a pale smile. ‘I was about to say the same thing, sir.’
     
    When he called at her lodging, Peter Skillen was quick to realise that there were two Anne Horners. The woman’s landlady described her in a way that was markedly at variance with the account given by Esther Ricks. Peter had been led to believe that the necessary woman spent most of her time alone in her rented room. Joan Claydon, the landlady, told a different story. To begin with, it transpired that Anne had disappeared for days before – though always after forewarning Joan. Where her lodger went, the landlady didn’t know but she explained that Anne always fulfilled her duties at the Home Office during her periods away from the house.
    ‘There is another thing, Mr Skillen,’ added Joan.
    ‘What was that?’
    ‘She usually brought a small gift for me.’
    ‘That was kind of her.’
    ‘Anne is more of a friend than a lodger.’
    ‘What of Mrs