A "While"

...a good long while." She tousled her young man's hair, mashing the double crown into a single one. "Now then, got your galoshes right? Right. Off you go."

James left the house and Violet watched him go, and a hint of a tear sprang to the corner of one eye. Everything was about to change for the lad. Everything.

Meanwhile, a short distance away, Detective Smith-Jones was staring in shock first at Joe, then at the hideous remains in the snow and back again. "No," she said. "No. I don't believe it. You mean to tell me..."