The Harrogate Advertiser, of course, called it the Stray corpse case. I call it the most embarrassing day of my life. George had decided it was time we got engaged. He took one of my rings when I was out at work to make sure that he got the right size, went into town to spend all his savings on a diamond solitaire and then rang me to arrange a meeting at our favourite bench on the Stray at lunchtime. Being a thoughtful soul, he realised that I should have had no time to eat, so he called in at Betty's and bought a couple of our favourite teacakes. You know the sort. They are full of currants and peel and we love them. Unfortunately, they are out of the question at the moment with my diet going so well. It's even more important now that I have a wedding dress to buy.

Anyway, George arrived with them, as well as the ring, and actually got down on one knee on the grass. He proposed, I accepted and then he opened the cake box with a flourish. He got a call on his mobile just as I was just about to tell him that he could eat both of them, grabbed one and dashed off. The next evening, I was in the pub telling my best friend all about it. As she recalled later to the reporter, my actual words were, ‘He must have spent a fortune on this ring. I took it, of course, but I left the Fat Rascal in a box on the Stray.' Well, how was I to know that a nosy parker at the next table was going to ring the police and have the Murder Squad out?