As Maud flits between the present and the past, we gather that Frank helps the Palmers with extra rations in post-war Britain but is disliked by Mr. Palmer for his dubious connections and quick temper. Mrs. Palmer likes Frank and doesn't think he could have harmed Sukey. But their lodger, the rather odd Douglas, says, "He's a jealous man, is Frank. Got a temper on him, too." More questions from Elizabeth is Missing:

• What is our impression of Douglas? What is his relationship with Sukey? 
• What does "the mad woman" symbolize in the novel?
• After "the mad woman" dies, Douglas tells Maud that she was his mother and, "I couldn't lock Mother away, too. All she ever wanted was to go home, to touch the things my sister had touched."
• How does Douglas's admission about his mother and sister help us understand Maud's determination to search for Sukey and Elizabeth?
• Frank is a problematic character. He is hard to like or trust. What are we to make of his behavior with Maud before and after Sukey's disappearance? Why does he ask Maud to marry him? 

The chaos of post-war Britain has its effect on Sukey's disappearance.  "Hasty war marriages had led to even hastier departures." The police plead with women to contact their husbands so the police are able to tell victims of foul play from the runaways. If Frank hadn't helped plant squash in someone's garden, Sukey would have been presumed to have run away and stayed missing forever.

Do you think that justice was finally served even though Frank was not jailed then and may be dead now? 

For those interested in mysteries and in fiction set during or immediately after World War 2, Charlotte Link's The Other Child is exciting and full of period details! For more information on post-war Britain, check out  David Kynaston's Austerity Britain, 1945-51.