The non-breaking spaces looked to be placed without any rhyme or reason.
Here are some samples. The bolding is mine.
Code:
<p id="rw-p_287847-00003">‘He went back to the fair after he’d been here,’ continued the superintendent. ‘He had tea with his wife in his caravan and did his stunt at 6.15. He was due to do it again at 6.45. I had men there at 6.35, but he’d disappeared. The last person to see him was the mechanic who looks after the machines.’</p>
<p id="rw-p_287847-00010">‘Then for heaven’s sake why didn’t you grab him?’ snapped Hansom.</p>
<p id="rw-p_287847-00012">Hansom snarled disgustedly. The superintendent brooded for a moment. ‘I don’t think there’s much doubt left that he’s our man,’ he said. ‘It looks as though we shan’t be needing you after all, Gently. I think we shall be able to pin something on young Huysmann and make it stick.’</p>
<p id="rw-p_287847-00021">‘You might print the door handle and the back of the chair that stands just inside,’ continued Gently, ‘and photograph the marks left on the carpet. Then again,’ he turned his thumb back with slow care, ‘you might wonder to yourself how the knife came to be in the chest in the hall. I can’t help you in the slightest. I’m still wondering myself …’</p>