Dark Room

house to myself again.' She clapped her hands to her face. 'I remember. He wasn't there, and I was pleased.'

Protheroe wondered why she hadn't noticed the glaring inconsistency. Or perhaps the inconsistency was part of the game. 'So now did you celebrate?'

Her eyes gleamed with sudden amusement. 'I drank two pints of beer, ate baked beans out of a tin, smoked ten cigarettes in half an hour, watched soaps on the telly, and had fried eggs and bacon in bed at half past ten.'

He looked up with a smile. 'That's very precise.'

'I was making a statement.'

'Because they were the things Leo disapproved of?'

'A mere fraction of them. His view of how women should behave was modeled on his mother, and she's kept herself in clover by constant appeasement of a chauvinistic husband.'

He arched an interested eyebrow but didn't pursue the issue. 'So what did you watch on television?'

'Wall-to-wall soap. One after the other. EastEnders. The Bill. Brookside.' She smiled. 'Then I couldn't stand it anymore, so I watched the news. Soap operas are pretty bloody boring when you haven't a clue what's going on.'

'Why didn't you watch Coronation Street?'

'It wasn't on.'

'Are you sure about that?'

'Positive,' she said. 'I went through the Radio Times and picked out the soaps deliberately. If it had been on, I'd have watched it.'

He stroked his beard thoughtfully. 'I'm not much of an expert, admittedly, but I'm sure Coronation Street goes out on a Friday, and you say you remember this as being Friday, the third of June.' He eased gingerly out of his chair, his shoulder protesting at the movement, and went to the desk. 'Hilda,'' he said into the intercom, 'can you rustle up a Radio Times from somewhere and bring it in? I need to know which days of the week don't have Coronation Street, but do have EastEnders, The Bill, and Brookside.''

Her giggle rattled tinnily down the wire. 'There now, and I always thought you preferred the intellectual stuff.'

'Very funny. This is important, Hilda.'

'Sorry, well, I can tell you without the Radio Times. Coronation Street is Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. EastEnders is Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The Bill is Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and Brookside is Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So, if you don't want Coronation Street but you do want the others, then that means Tuesday.'

'Good Lord!' said Alan in amazement. 'Do you watch them all?'

'Most days,' she agreed cheerfully. 'Anything else I can help you with?'

'No, that's fine, thank you.' He returned to his seat. 'Did you hear that?' he asked Jinx. 'You appear to be remembering a Tuesday and not a Friday, and it does seem a little unlikely that Leo would have returned for breakfast immediately after he had packed his bags and gone.'

She stared unhappily at her hands.

'I wonder if you're quite as clear about Saturday the fourth as you think you are. You remember saying good- bye to Leo and you're very specific about the day and the date, but do you know why? What happened to fix Saturday the fourth in your mind?'

'It was in my diary for ages,' she said. 'Week at the Hall, beginning June the fourth.'

'And you were definitely leaving for the Hall when you said good-bye to Leo?''

'Yes.'

'So how many suitcases were you carrying?'

She stared at him in confusion.

'Did you have any suitcases?' he asked.

'I know I was going to see my father,' she said slowly.

He waited. 'And?' he prompted at last.

'My bag was hanging on the back of the chair.' She stared into the past. 'It's a small leather pouch on a long strap. I slung it over my shoulder and said, 'I'm off now.' ' She frowned. 'I think I must have put the suitcases in the car the night before.'

'Is that what you usually did?'

'It's the only thing that makes sense.'

'I wonder if it is.' He took a diary out of his jacket pocket. 'Let's work forward,' he suggested, 'beginning with what you know to be true. Tell me about the first time you met Leo.'

THE VICARAGE, LITTLETON MARY-12:15 P.M.

Simon Harris answered the door and looked in some dismay at Frank Cheever. 'We-that is, my father and I-' He broke off as the sound of shouting erupted from the window to the right. 'My mother's not very well, I'm afraid. She can't really come to terms with what's happened. We'd like her to see the doctor but she won't have him near her. The problem is she's making some very wild accusations, and we're worried-well, frankly, she's accusing Dad of