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murdering someone?’
    ‘Oh, probably not.’ Adam waved away the suggestion. ‘It’s just that she’s big and strong and her temper, well … sometimes she gets that look in her eye. Mind you, so do you.’ He didn’t laugh. ‘You haven’t answered my question.’
    ‘About?’
    Adam’s eyes narrowed again, his face hardened, and Sarah knew she’d pushed him too far this time. ‘Friday in the burial ground. Was it something to do with the blackmail?’
    Sarah got such a terrible shock it felt like a physical blow, and she thought for several moments that she might faint. She heard herself say, ‘What blackmail?’
    ‘Look, I know Furniss worked for Bella Shand. I asked around because it’s obvious you and Friday and Harrie loathe her, and I’ve always suspected there’s more to all that than what you’ve told me. Bella Shand is blackmailing you, isn’t she?’
    Sarah stared at him, fear making her skin tingle unpleasantly, and said as calmly as possible, ‘What makes you think that?’
    She felt sick and, though she was only feet from the fire, the sweat in her armpits was cold and clammy. She dreaded to hear his answer but she had to know how much of their secret he’d worked out.
    ‘You’ve always needed a lot of money,’ he said, ‘but you never seem to spend it on yourself.’
    ‘It’s for Janie and the babies at the Factory. I’ve told you that.’
    ‘But not all of it, surely. And I know Friday contributes to this fund of yours, and Harrie, when she can. I overheard you talking one day — and no, I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping.’
    Sarah stayed silent, too frightened to speak in case he asked the next — obvious — question.
    ‘So this is what I think might have happened,’ Adam said. ‘I think Friday was in the burial ground on Sunday night, meeting Furniss to hand over money. Either the boy Walter was there officially with Friday, or he followed her for some reason. After the transaction was made, Walter killed Furniss.’ Adam frowned. ‘So what happened to the money?’
    ‘Keep going, Mr Know It All,’ Sarah snapped. She was angry, and frightened, because the scenario he’d conjured was so accurate.
    ‘Because it was your business in which Walter became embroiled,’ Adam went on, ‘the three of you felt you needed to arrange for him to leave the colony. Am I right so far?’
    Sarah sighed. She’d sighed a lot tonight. ‘Not quite. Yes, Walter did follow Friday. We had no idea he planned to kill Furniss. It was Leo who organised his passage on the ship, not us. We saw him off because we are fond of him. I got to know him quite well when you were away, through Harrie working for Leo. I don’t blame Walter for what he did. The filthy cove deserved it.’
    ‘Did Friday see him kill Furniss?’
    ‘No, he waited until she’d gone.’
    ‘And my question about the money? I take it you are being blackmailed?’
    Sarah nodded. ‘Yes, we are.’ She closed her eyes for a second. God, it was a relief to finally tell Adam. About that, at least. She literally felt as though some grindingly heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders, if only by a fraction. ‘Walter took the money back off Furniss.’
    On the rug Clifford let out a loud, whistly snore.
    Adam said, ‘So now Bella’s right-hand man is dead, she’s owed a blackmail payment, and she’s bound to think —’
    ‘We killed him.’
    ‘Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Sarah?’
    ‘Because it’s no one else’s business.’
    ‘Not even mine?’ Adam’s gaze was level, but he looked disappointed.
    Sarah hesitated, then said, ‘No.’
    ‘So no one else knows about the blackmail?’
    ‘No.’ Though Sarah had wondered what Friday might have said to Elizabeth Hislop.
    Adam sat quietly for a moment, his eyes downcast.
    Oh God, here it comes, Sarah thought, panicking.
    ‘Sarah, why is she blackmailing you?’
    ‘I can only assume she’s taken against us,’ she said, deliberately misinterpreting the