THE HOUSE AT SEA’S END

no business of hers whether the wreck is that of a fire ship, part of Operation Lucifer. It’s no business of hers who murdered Archie Whitcliffe, Hugh Anselm or Dieter Eckhart. Her job, as Tatjana pointed out, is being a mother. She’d better get on with it.
    It’s not one of her best tutorials. Luckily, the students do most of the work themselves, one of them reading a paper, the others discussing it. They are all mature students from China and America and they are scrupulously polite to each other. All Ruth has to do is to steer the conversation in certain directions and to correct some misconceptions about Neanderthal Man. Then they are backing out of her room, the Chinese students literally bowing.
    Ruth’s phone rings. It’s Nelson.
    ‘Ruth, I’m off to Sea’s End House. There’s a few more questions I need to ask. What are you doing?’
    ‘Well, Craig, one of the field team, rang to say that they’d found a boat on the beach just beyond Broughton. They think it might be a fire ship. You know, part of the coastal defence.’
    ‘Are you going down to have a look at it?’
    ‘I might do.’
    ‘I’ll see you there, if so. And Ruth?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Be careful.’
    Ruth turns off the phone but, almost immediately, switches it back on to call Sandra. She’ll just have a quick look at the boat. She’ll be home by six at the latest.
    Nelson had asked if he could speak to Irene on her own, but when he reaches Sea’s End House he is told by Stella that her mother-in-law is unwell and can’t be disturbed.
    ‘What is it?’ Nelson does not return Stella’s smile.
    ‘The doctor thinks it may be a small stroke.’
    ‘Jesus.’ Nelson is taken aback. A stroke is serious. Why aren’t they running about calling ambulances?
    ‘At Mother’s age these things are almost inevitable,’ says Stella, leading the way into the sitting room. ‘There’s no point her going into hospital. She might as well stay here, peacefully, in her own bed.’
    There is an air of resignation about her which Nelson finds disturbing. In her own bed. People talk about dying ‘in their own bed’. He’s not going to do that. He’s going to die in a speeding car or saving some child from drowning. Peace is overrated, in his opinion.
    ‘How old is Irene?’
    ‘Ninety-three.’ Again, that calm smile.
    It seems odd not to have Irene fussing about with the tea. There’s no sign of Jack or Clara either. But that suits Nelson. Stella has always struck him as the sanest one of the family.
    ‘Jack and Clara have taken the dogs for a long walk,’ explains Stella. ‘Jack needed to get out of the house. He’s been so worried about Irene. And Clara could do with a break too. She’s had a bad time of it recently.’
    ‘Was she very upset about Dieter Eckhart’s death?’
    ‘Very. I think she really cared about him.’
    ‘Was she in love with him?’
    Stella looks slightly reproving. ‘They’d only known each other for a few weeks.’
    But it happens, Nelson wants to tell her. Didn’t he fall in love with Michelle as soon as he saw her, that day in the Blackpool Rock Shop?
    ‘Mrs Hastings,’ says Nelson. On Saturday night they had been on first name terms but that seems a long time ago. ‘How much do you know about the war years at Sea’s End House?’
    ‘Quite a lot,’ says Stella placidly. ‘More than Jack, I daresay. Irene talked to me a lot. Buster too. I was very interested.’
    ‘Did you know that Irene used to visit Archie Whitcliffe?’
    ‘Yes. She was fond of him. Buster had been almost like a father to him.’
    It seems odd to think of the elderly man with the regimental tie having a father, surrogate or otherwise. Nelson remembers what Archie said about Buster Hastings.
Hell of a chap. A real old devil. One of the old school.
Not the most loving of descriptions.
    ‘What about Hugh Anselm? Did she visit him?’
    ‘She went once, a few years ago. She wasn’t so close to Hugh. I don’t think Buster liked him much, he always referred to him as that damned commie.’ She laughs softly.
    ‘Did you ever meet Hugh?’
    ‘Yes. I drove Irene over to see him that time.’
    ‘And Archie?’
    ‘Once or twice.’
    It’s incredible, reflects Nelson. He had thought that Jack was the key to Sea’s End House but all the time it was the quiet woman sitting in front of him. She had known all Irene’s wartime stories, she remembers Buster, she had taken Irene to visit both Archie and Hugh.
    ‘Mrs Hastings, did