Home at Seven

Preston spends 5-6 pm in the bar of a local pub every day. The barmaid confirms these visits and notes Preston's steady presence at this time. The pattern foreshadows the later memory fragments and locates a place where events collide.

At the social club where Preston is treasurer, a witness named Robinson sees him take 515 from the safe. The act is described by the witness and becomes a focal point of the investigation. The lost money frames the motive behind the subsequent murder mystery.

A loud bang outside triggers a wartime memory for Preston, causing him to behave strangely. He seems convinced the war has returned and acts on this sudden recollection. The moment foreshadows the mental strain that will complicate his alibi.

When questioned by the police, Preston claims he spent the night across London with friends. He later learns that the named friend is away on holiday, revealing the fragility of his memory and the unreliability of his alibi. The incident marks the first formal escalation into the investigation.

Preston returns home at 7 pm on Tuesday to find he has been missing for 24 hours. His memory gap is confirmed as he tries to piece together what happened between Monday evening and Tuesday evening. The revelation heightens his status as a suspect.

Before a formal statement, investigators collect the clothes and shoes Preston wore on Monday. This evidence could connect him to the club robbery or other events of the day. The collection underscores how the investigation relies on both memory and tangible traces.

Robinson, who had witnessed the social club theft, is found murdered in an allotment that same evening. The murder unsettles the case and suggests a confrontation linked to the missing money. Preston becomes a principal suspect in a crime that he cannot fully recall.

The doctor is consulted as Preston claims to be remembering things. He describes where Robinson was found and that he was being followed, and admits burying the money and then following Robinson. The doctor helps connect memory with the case and pushes the investigation forward.

The doctor takes Preston to meet his solicitor, who advises employing expensive counsel and encourages telling the police the correct story. The legal advice reframes Preston's possible defense and underscores the pressure of the criminal inquiry.

Preston's wife reveals that his recent money troubles stem from his father's embezzlement at work, which Preston has vowed to repay. This confession adds a personal motive or pressure that might color his responses. The revelation also informs the police narrative.

The president of the social club tells Preston's doctor that he has been borrowing money all around the club. The pattern suggests financial stress and potential links to the robbery. The comment widens the loop of possible involvement.

A barmaid confirms that Preston regularly spends 5-6 pm each evening in her pub, and he did this Monday as well. The memory of a loud bang near the pub triggers a war-time memory, deepening the mental strain. The detail ties his routine to the emotional memory that disrupts his recall.

After his memory breakdown, Preston is placed in a hotel room where he sleeps through the night and wakes convinced the war is ongoing. He remains in the room all day, trapped in a trance state that blocks his recollection. The confinement isolates him as the investigation continues.

At 5 pm, they bring Preston to the bar and he comes out of the trance, declares he is going home, and leaves. This abrupt release marks a turning point in his control over his memory and movements. The event marks the moment the investigators close in on the truth.

The police inform Preston that Robinson and another man carried out the robbery and that the murder was their fault. The truth emerges from the evidence and the memory gaps, tying together the financial motive and the witnessed theft. Preston's fate hinges on his involuntary role and the lack of a definitive alibi.