‘Oh yes indeed. We accountants very quickly learn how to “read” our customers’ work, as it were. And I must say that Mr Thorpe had a very neat and tidy way of doing things. A bit over-meticulous sometimes, so he does not always find the most effective way of doing things, but his entries had the saving grace of at least being … unambiguous.’

Clement, who was both entertained by, and very interested in the small man in front of him, took a moment or two to appreciate his latest, very careful, offering.

‘Unambiguous,’ Trudy, too, savoured the word thoughtfully and nodded. ‘But Mr Parker’s work, by comparison, tended to be rather more, should we say, a little slipshod?’ she probed delicately.

The accountant’s fingertips did rapid overtime under his chin, but this time his prim lips almost twitched into a smile. ‘I think that would be a generous interpretation of it, yes.’

Trudy nodded. ‘I see. Would you say that Regal Cars are a successful enterprise, as a whole, Mr Prescott?’

Again, the man thought that over very carefully before replying, checking for hidden pitfalls and mantraps.

‘I would say,’ Philip Prescott finally said with his usual precision, ‘that it was solvent. That its turnover was appreciable and that its income seemed to be quite adequate for the two men concerned. But rather more, I think, for Mr Parker than for Mr Thorpe.’

Trudy, for the first time, wasn’t quite certain that she’d read between the lines correctly this time. Knowing that a direct question would probably not be received well by her witness, she sought ways to get clarification.

‘Is Regal Cars a straight partnership, Mr Prescott? By that I mean do they equally own one half of the company?’

‘They do,’ Mr Prescott said, a gleam of approval in his eye. ‘They each own equal equity, and they do not draw their respective salaries on the basis of who sells the most cars. That is to say – no bonuses.’

Trudy, feeling on surer ground now, nodded. ‘So it didn’t matter if one of them sold more cars one week than the other one did. The profits would be shared equally between them.’

‘Yes.’

‘Was Mr Parker, on the whole, a better salesman that Mr Thorpe?’

‘No, I would say they were more or less on a par. I noticed that Mr Thorpe’s sales tended to be more regular and – well, not predictable, exactly, but shall we say, tended to follow the same pattern. Mr Parker told me that his partner tended to sell the less high-end range of sports cars, mostly to younger men. Whilst he sold fewer cars, but more of the higher-priced items, and usually to older men.’