‘That’s right. I was so flattered that they did. I mean, me!’ Patsy gushed. ‘I felt so sorry for them. It must have been absolutely galling to have some lounge lizard become engaged to your mother, mustn’t it? I mean, my own mother is so annoying and plebeian, you wouldn’t believe it’ – Patsy rolled her eyes theatrically – ‘but at least the dear old so-and-so wouldn’t fall for the charms of some gigolo years younger than herself. Poor Juliet was devastated! I mean, can you blame her?’

‘Er, quite,’ Clement said. Beside him, he could see Vincent was trying to hold back a huge grin, and he shot him a quelling look.

‘So, what did the twins plan to do about it, exactly?’ Clement asked, careful to keep his voice casual. The last thing he wanted to do now was frighten this rather scatter-brained young lady into uncharacteristic silence.

‘Oh, like I said. They asked me to do them a massive favour and vamp him for them,’ Patsy said airily. (She was, in fact, rather pleased with the way she sounded so casual and offhand about it. Like she’d been a femme fatale for years and years! She could tell by the way that the handsome younger man opened his eyes wide that he was impressed.)

For a moment Clement was thoroughly nonplussed. He considered himself a man of the world, but this strange young woman, who seemed to be such an odd mixture of child and sophisticate, had him stumped.

Manfully, he took another deep breath. ‘When you say “vamp”, by that do you mean that they wanted you to, er …’ But here, even Clement Ryder found himself floundering. And this time his son, damn the youth, was openly grinning at him.

But, luckily for the coroner, he didn’t have to grope for the right words after all, because Patsy saved him the trouble.

‘Oh yes. They wanted me to seduce him, you see,’ she admitted matter-of-factly. ‘Or let him seduce me. I’m not quite sure.’ Patsy frowned. ‘It was all so clear and easy when Juliet explained it to me.’

‘Yes,’ Clement grasped the proffered straw with both hands. ‘Just what did Juliet explain to you? And just what was it that she wanted you to do that night? If you could be specific, Miss Arles, it would be very helpful.’