The evidence of Douglas Pike

[Erik Narramore]

Douglas Pike, a phone engineer, was briefly in the kitchen and saw Sheila and the twins at the kitchen table.  He formed a very favourable impression of them.

But how long was Douglas Pike at the farmhouse to form this evaluation of Sheila's mood, composure and parenting skills that you seem to want us to rely on?

Assuming Mr Pike's visit was brief and did not consist of a detailed observational study of Sheila and the children, why should Mr Pike's opinion override that of others, including people who lived with Sheila and professionals?

If somebody came and took the kitchen phone away, isn't it logical to assume that this was replaced with another phone and this explains why there was no phone in the master bedroom?