Tomorrow's ghost

'Is that you, Bessie?' said a voice quickly.

Frances glanced down at the number. 'Wilton Green 326.'

'Sally?' The voice sounded surprised. 'Is that Sally?'

Sally?

Sally equals Sarah - equals Sarah Butler, bom 1961.

'Hold on a moment.' Frances looked at Nannie. 'I think it's for you, Nannie ... Who is that speaking, please?'

'Hullo?' The voice, which had been excited before it had become surprised, now became dauntingly well-bred. 'This is the Matron of the Charlotte Tyson Nursing Home.

If that is Wilton Green 326 - 3-2-6 - may I speak with Mrs Elizabeth Hooker, please?'

All that was a far cry from Is that you, Bessie? But it was the right cry, nevertheless.

'It's the Matron of the Charlotte Tyson Nursing Home, Nannie.'

'Oh ... yes.' Nannie took the receiver from her. 'Don't go, dear - it's a friend of mine.'

Frances estimated the distance between the desk and the door and the phone in the hall, and the time needed to get from one to the other.

'I'll wait outside, Nannie.'

As Nannie put the phone to her ear she stepped out smartly towards the door.

'Don't go - there's no need to go - '

She reached the door, and then turned back to Nannie. 'It's all right - I'll come back when you've finished.'

That was five seconds gained - and add another five seconds for Nannie's embarrassment. Then, close the door and subtract five seconds for the time it took to reach the table at the foot of the staircase.

Click.

Frances found herself looking at herself in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs as she lifted the phone.

Would Nannie know what that click signified?

'Are you there, Muriel - hullo?'

The mirror at the bottom of the stairs.

'Bessie - hullo, is that you, Bessie?'

* * *

I heard him stop at the bottom of the stairs, as though he was thinking - or as though he was

looking at himself in the mirror there -

* * *

'- quite awful. And the police traipsing round makes it worse, because I'm sure they'll never catch anyone -'

Sod it! She was missing the dialogue!

'How absolutely beastly for you, dear. And are they still there? The police, I mean?

Because that wasn't Sally who answered the phone, was it?'

'No, dear. Sally's still at school, she doesn't know anything about it yet, neither does Jane. It all happened after I took them to school this morning, while I was in the village.'

'I didn't think it was Sally ... Did they take anything?'

'The children's christening mugs, and the clock

in the lounge. And my radio from the kitchen ... nothing important... the police think Rodgers may have disturbed them.'

'Rodgers saw them?'

'No. Disturbed them. No one saw anything.'

'That wasn't Mrs Rodgers on the phone, was it?'

'No.'

'It wasn't Mrs Rodgers?'

'No. She's never here on a Thursday.'

'I didn't think it was Mrs Rodgers. Who was it?'

There was a pause while Nannie considered how to deal with her friend's curiosity.

'It was a policewoman. Why do you want to know, Muriel?'

'Oh...' Muriel sounded disappointed. Then she perked up. 'Is she staying with you, Bessie?'