THE ASTELLS’ LIVED in some style. Of course, Ellen Hadleigh had mentioned that Mrs Astell was well off, Rafferty remembered, so Astell presumably wasn't dependant on the business for income, which, from what he had said, was fortunate in the circumstances.
The house was on two floors and detached; mid Nineteenth century, according to Rafferty's knowledgeable guess, it stood in its own small grounds, and while not by any means ostentatious, it was one of those irregularly-built old houses which incorporated bay windows, a gabled porch, steeply-pitched roofs and tall chimney stacks, which together gave the house a picturesque charm.
Ellen Hadleigh opened the door. After his initial surprise at seeing her there, Rafferty remembered Astell had told them she cleaned for them. He explained tha
