‘Wrong. Francesca approached me. I got my fingers singed last time I head-hunted from Maguire Holdings.’

‘Richard Ezra?’

‘Yes.’

‘We sussed it out,’ Clay explained. ‘He worked for Maguire Holdings before he came to work for you. Tell me the story. What happened?’

‘I approached Richard directly behind Norma Maguire’s back. He was the top agent at Maguire Holdings. I needed him on board here. At the time we were in a slump, to say the very least. I offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse. If he helped us to drive up our sales and lettings to the place they’d once been in and he could captain that sustained performance for twelve months, I’d make him a profit-sharing partner in the firm. He bit my hand off.’

‘How did Norma Maguire take this?’

‘She went ballistic. She sent me legal hate mail when Richard started with me. What she wasn’t going to do to me wasn’t worth mentioning. She was going to close me down and sue me in the highest court in the land if she had to.’

‘Did Richard know about this?’

‘Yes. I showed him the letters, played back the toxic messages she left on my answer machine. On the last occasion I played him her poison he quietly asked to be excused and left the room. When he came back he told me he’d called Norma on her personal mobile and had a private conversation with her. Norma immediately stopped banging the war drums. I never heard from her again.’

‘Did he tell you much about Norma?’

‘Is she in trouble?’ A light glinted in his eyes; it was the glimmer of hope.

‘Please answer the question, Mr Doherty.’

‘He didn’t tell me that much about her, just that she was consistently over-familiar with him. There was nothing overtly sexual about it but he felt uncomfortable around her.’

A clear pattern emerged in Clay’s head.

‘Did Francesca Christie say anything about Norma Maguire to you?’

‘That she wasn’t going to work her notice, and that she’d personally take the fallout from that decision. Richard Ezra was a little less hasty. He worked his month’s notice and spun a yarn to Norma that he was going travelling for a year. I told Francesca to wait but any time I mentioned Norma it was like someone had stepped on her grave.’

‘How do you mean, Mr Doherty?’

‘She shuddered at the mention of her name. Norma Maguire was a touchy subject.’

‘Is there anything you’d like to add?’

‘Will I be receiving another visit from you or your colleagues, DCI Clay?’

‘It’s more than likely. Thank you for your time and discretion. Let’s hope your silence on my visit to you helps us to bring Francesca Christie back safe and sound.’

***