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the familiar rush of adrenalin that he always experienced at the start of an investigation. The financial rewards of the work scarcely interested him, except as a way to pay the bills and keep the small business afloat. He loved his work and finding the solution to a problem was what he craved. The satisfaction of a job well done. As he stepped outside into the sunshine he was smiling.
    The next morning Marianne was told she would have the day to herself.
    ‘My sister telephoned late last night to invite the twins to a little party she is giving for the son of her housekeeper,’ her employer explained with a trace of irritation in her voice. ‘It seems the boy – Ivan or Ivor or some such name – has a birthday in a month’s time but is likely to die before then.’
    ‘Die?’ Marianne gasped. ‘How frightful!’
    Mrs Matlowe shrugged. ‘The child has gone downhill faster than expected, apparently . . . Oh it’s nothing infectious or I wouldn’t allow the girls to attend. Something he was born with – something unpronounceable to do with his brain.’ She sighed. ‘All a bit of a rush but Ida, my sister, is like that. Very impetuous. There will be two other children there – the son and daughter of a neighbour.’
    ‘How very kind of your sister.’
    Georgina rolled her eyes. ‘She means well, I know, but she lives on her own in a ghastly service flat and expects me to trail over there to see her, which entails travelling by tram.’ She sighed. ‘I always come home with a severe headache.’
    Marianne said, ‘The twins will be thrilled. They don’t mix with many children.’
    ‘I hope that’s not a criticism?’
    ‘Certainly not. Just a comment.’
    ‘I shall get away early by telling her the children have a strict routine and an early bedtime.’
    ‘Shall I get the girls into their party frocks?’
    ‘If you would – and tell them what’s happening. We shall have to get off the tram somewhere and buy two gifts for the twins to give him.’ She shook her head. ‘I shall ask the shop assistant to wrap the presents. Oh dear! Everything at the last moment – that’s my sister. Still . . .’
    An hour later Marianne waved the three of them off as they set off for the tram stop. It was going to be quite an adventure for Emmie and Edie, she thought, pleased for them.
    But what shall I do with my day? she wondered.
    Lorna, however, had no such decisions to make. As soon as the front door had closed behind her mistress and the girls, she hurried from the kitchen in search of the governess, her eyes shining with excitement.
    ‘Come on, Marianne,’ she said. ‘I’ve something to show you!’ She held up a key.
    ‘What is it?’
    ‘You’ll soon see! Follow me.’ She led the way to the stairs and then rushed up them, leaving Marianne trailing a little behind her.
    ‘You’re like a mountain goat!’ Marianne told her as they hurried along the first-floor landing and set off again up another flight of stairs. This was an area of the house Marianne had never had cause to explore as her own room was on the first floor next to the twins. ‘More bedrooms?’ she asked. ‘Who uses them all? Does Mrs Matlowe ever entertain?’
    ‘Almost never, although her sister came once or twice and Mrs Brannigan next door says they had quite a lot of visitors after her son married that American woman, Leonora.’ She paused in the middle of the passage. ‘Mrs Brannigan says that on Leonora’s twenty-third birthday – when they’d only been here for about six weeks – they invited seven couples to a weekend house party but Mrs Matlowe disapproved and quarrelled with them over it. Neil insisted they go ahead – well, it was his wife’s birthday after all – but his mother refused to stay. She would have nothing to do with it and went away to her sister’s for the weekend!’
    ‘You mean she left them to their own devices?’
    ‘Yes! Left Leonora to plan it all, rearrange the bedrooms and everything. They