SIMON Serrailler.’ ‘Oh.’ ‘Please don’t hang up. Just listen to me.’ ‘I don’t –’ ‘Is your husband going to be at home this morning?’ ‘He usually is Saturday mornings, though not in the afternoons, not usually Saturday evenings either. He coaches junior football and then he’s at the pub.’ ‘Fine. I’m going to call round this morning, I need to talk to him.’ ‘I didn’t tell you where we live.’ Serrailler said nothing. ‘Yes, I see. Nothing’s private, is it? Nothing’s confidential from you lot.’ ‘I’ll come between ten and eleven, but I’d be grateful if you didn’t mention this to him.’ He could have called on the off chance and risked finding Stephen Foster out of the house but he preferred it this way. Noeline might warn her husband about his impending visit. His behaviour then would say a lot. If he knew nothing, and certainly if he had done nothing, then he might well stay put. If he was at all anxious or felt guilty, he might decide not to be in after all, or, at the very least, work out a story and rehearse it carefully.
