Duffs means and social standing. If I knew why he was there, or with whom, I would be a great deal closer to knowing what happened to him.”

"I see. I suppose it was foolish of me not to have understood." She looked away from him. The room was comfortable, beautifully proportioned. There was no sound but the crackle of flames in the fireplace and the soft, rhythmic ticking of the clock on the mantel.

Everything about it was gracious, serene, different in every conceivable way from the alley in which its owner had perished. Quite probably St. Giles was beyond the knowledge or even the imagination of his widow.

"Your husband left shortly after your son, Mrs. Duff?" He leaned a little forward as he spoke, as if to attract her attention.

She turned towards him slowly. "I suppose you want to know how my son was dressed also?”

"Yes, please.”

"I cannot remember. In something very ordinary, grey or navy I think.

No… a black coat and grey trousers.”

It was what he had been wearing when he was found. Evan said nothing.

"He said he was going out to enjoy himself," she said, her voice suddenly dropping and catching with emotion. "He was… angry.”

"With whom?" He tried to picture the scene. Rhys Duff was probably no more than eighteen or nineteen, still immature, rebellious.

She lifted her shoulder very slightly. It was a gesture of denial, as if the question were incapable of answer.

"Was there a quarrel, ma'am, a difference of opinion?”

She sat silent for so long he was afraid she was not going to reply. Of course it was bitterly painful. It was their last meeting. They could never now be reconciled. The fact that she did not deny it instantly was answer enough.

"It was trivial," she said at last. "It doesn't matter now. My husband was dubious about some of the company Rhys chose to keep. Oh… not anyone who would hurt him, Sergeant. I am speaking of female company. My husband wished Rhys to make the acquaintance of reputable young ladies. He was in a position to make a settlement upon him if he chose to marry, not a good fortune many young men can count upon.”