Frances wondered what that could mean – was Isaac referring to Mr Eckley the headmaster or his own wish to teach? Presumably it was Frances’ recent visit and Mr Eckley’s threats that had upset him.

‘’E did this one, too,’ added Ratty making both his hands into claws and drawing them apart across his chest, almost like a monkey in the zoo scratching itself. ‘D’no what that is.’

Frances leafed through the book but could see nothing illustrated that might help her. ‘’N then ’e did this.’ Ratty put the thumbs and forefingers of both hands together and drew them apart in a curve, like opening a miniature curtain. ‘’N they did it back.’

‘How mysterious! I think you should continue to watch Mr Goodwin for another week at least. He may have discontinued teaching for the moment but start again when he thinks it is safe to do so.’ Frances secretly hoped that Isaac would provide her with nothing to suggest that he was likely to fall foul of Mr Eckley’s righteous wrath and the whole matter could be settled without any legal action.

While waiting for developments Frances addressed herself to her other cases and conducted an interview with a Mrs Lowy, who thankfully had nothing at all to do with skeletons.

Mrs Lowy was a lady of middle years, tastefully clad, although Frances observed that her gown was not the current season’s but last year’s; she had not, as a younger woman might have done, applied artful embellishments to make it seem new.

Frances happened to know that Mrs Lowy’s husband, Ferdinand, a purveyor of fine furnishings, was not as prosperous as he would like to appear. Chas and Barstie liked to drop the occasional private hint as to which businesses in Bayswater were experiencing difficulties and which individuals were struggling with debt, and Mr Lowy’s name had been mentioned several times recently. She wondered how much of this was known to his wife.

There were wives who took an interest in their husbands’ commercial life, providing sage advice and assistance, and others who might have done so had they been given the opportunity but were deliberately or thoughtlessly left in ignorance. Still others agreed with their husbands that trade was a man’s world and women were merely an unnecessary and distracting intrusion into a sphere of life for which they were not suited. Frances had seen more than one distraught victim who had known nothing of an approaching catastrophe before it descended upon her and her children like a thunderclap.

Had there been a subtle suggestion from Mr Lowy that his wife might like to delay ordering her new gown? There was a time when Frances would simply have observed and felt sympathy, allowing her mind to pass on to other matters, another’s private hardships not being her business. Now they were her business, and she took no comfort from the fact. Occasionally her enquiries had uncovered the hiding places of debtors and, more importantly, where they had concealed their funds. Most of the time, however, there was nothing to be done.

Mrs Lowy, Frances knew from local gossip, had a very specific problem, the theft of a valuable family heirloom, a necklace that had belonged to her grandmother. Her client explained that she had kept it in a jewel case on her dressing table and rarely wore it because it was rather ugly and unfashionable. Nevertheless she was upset at its disappearance, because of a purely sentimental attachment. Mrs Lowy brought a portrait showing her wearing the necklace and Frances could only agree, although she did not say so, that it was indeed ugly, with festoons of heavy chains, clusters of jewels like overblown flowers and a central pendant with a cameo of a fierce looking man and his supercilious wife.

‘It is – a very distinctive piece.’

‘It is,’ said Mrs Lowy. ‘No one could sell it as it is or even pawn it without attracting attention. Any thief would have to break it up and sell the stones. I would be so upset if that was to happen. And the cameo – my grandparents’ portrait – will I ever see it again?’

‘The jewel box was unlocked?’

‘Yes, I suppose that was careless of me but I never imagined anyone would steal it. My maid has been with me for twenty-five years and is a thoroughly good woman. The housemaid was on her half-day holiday the day it went missing. The only other person who ever enters the room is Ferdinand.’

‘Is the necklace insured?’ asked Frances, although she could predict the answer.

‘Oh yes, for far more than any thief could make from it, but I don’t care about the money, I just want the necklace,’ she finished plaintively.

‘And you shall have it,’ said Frances confidently. ‘I am often asked to find stolen jewellery and on many occasions I have found that it was not stolen at all but simply mislaid. Sometimes it has simply been moved to another place in order for it to be cleaned or valued or matched with a gown.’

‘I am sure I did not move it, and no one in the house admits having done so,’ protested Mrs Lowy.

Frances smiled in a manner she hoped would calm and reassure her client. ‘Nevertheless, a busy person can so easily forget these things. You would be surprised at how often it happens. I am sure that you have looked everywhere for it, but I have an associate, a Miss Smith, who is an expert at finding things that are lost. This is what we will do. Miss Smith will visit you this very evening and she will undertake a thorough search. Will your husband be at home?’

‘Yes, he returns at seven and dines at eight.’

‘Then it is essential that you make sure he knows the instant he returns that Miss Smith will be at your house promptly at nine to look for the necklace. I would not want him to be alarmed.’

Mrs Lowy looked surprised, but she agreed.

Frances called on Tom and explained that she wanted one of his ‘men’ to wait outside Mr and Mrs Lowy’s home and when Mr Lowy returned from his office, to see if he went out again, follow him to his destination and then report to her at once.

‘What you wanted to know about them houses up at Queens Road,’ said Tom. ‘Locked up and boarded tight ever since they were sold. Only opened up to let the workmen go in. Mr Whiteley’s not a gent to let the grass grow. Lots ’v argyments about the hoardings as they was too high. Vestry wanted ’em taken down; Mr Whiteley took no notice; big palaver.’

‘Might someone have been able to climb in?’

‘Not less he was a monkey with arms six foot long and hands on the end of his legs.’

Frances thought that Mr Poe might have made something of that, but she was certain that there was no escaped orang-utan in Bayswater or she would have been asked to look for it.

‘Was one thing, though,’ added Tom. ‘Someone did try and break in a few months ago, only they didn’t get nowhere. I mean they pulled some of the boards apart, but there was only about enough space for a cat to get in, or someone very thin if they wriggled a bit.’

That evening Frances received a visit from one of Tom’s ‘men’ she had not encountered before, a mouse-like boy of about ten called Dunnock, who said that within minutes of arriving home from his office Mr Lowy had rushed out of the house carrying a small parcel and gone to an address. This address, Frances was able to ascertain from her directory, was the home of his brother.

Frances at once proceeded to the home of Mr and Mrs Lowy and engaged in a brief private interview with the gentleman of the house to say that a search would no longer be needed as she had located the missing necklace in the safekeeping of his brother. She added that she hoped he had not yet pursued a claim with his insurance company, whose directors might find it hard to believe that he had made an innocent error. He thanked her gratefully, paid her a handsome fee and hurried to tell his wife the good news.