"How morbid of you. Or, no, of course, it isn't. It is what we all want to do. Did you see little Mr. Macallan?"
" I did. He sent his best respects to you. Aunt Bee — "
"You are too old to begin calling me aunt."
"Bee, what were Simon's 'mechanical interests'?"
"Simon never had any mechanical interests as far as I know."
"You said at the inquest that he had."
"I did? I can't imagine what they could have been. What was it apropos of?"
"To explain why we didn't do things together on a Saturday afternoon. What did Simon do when I went bird-watching?" He tried to make it sound like someone trying to remember an old way of life.
"Pottered about, I expect. Simon was always a potterer. His hobbies never lasted longer than a fortnight at the outside."
"So you don't remember what Simon was using for a hobby the day I ran away?"