Halliday decided that action could not be put off any longer. It would have been better, as she now clearly saw, to have used Lucy while Lucy lived. As soon as it had become obvious that Lucy was pining, Mrs. Halliday should have put on her coat, and carried Lucy round to Ovington Square for a reunion with Fred. One reunion might happily have put Norah Palmer in mind for another; at the least, Mrs. Halliday would have reopened a kind of communication, and made, perhaps, a weekly visit with the cage. Now Lucy’s death furnished a less happy occasion, nor could it be repeated. All must be told in the one interview. She chose Saturday morning, when Norah Palmer would probably be in, and arrived to find Norah Palmer in the kitchen, wearing a housecoat over pyjamas, drinking coffee and reading her way through the Fridays before tackling the week-end shopping. “I came to see you; I hope you’ll excuse it,” Mrs. Halliday said, looking around for Fred. “It’s Lucy, miss.
