It was true. I had noticed her some distance away from the main lawn and the path.

‘I’m afraid I didn’t hear anything,’ Elizabeth said.

‘Is there anything you can tell me about that evening?’ Hawthorne asked. ‘Obviously, you have an unusual perspective. But it could be very helpful.’

‘There’s not very much I can tell you, I’m afraid, Mr Hawthorne. Parties are quite difficult for me, as you might imagine. All the voices tend to blend into each other and there’s no room to move around. I didn’t stay there very long. What time did we leave, Sid?’

‘We got there at about seven fifteen, left just before ten.’

So she hadn’t been there when the murder happened.

‘How did you get back to the hotel?’ Hawthorne asked.

‘We took a cab,’ Sid replied. ‘The driver was a kid with ginger hair. I’m sure he’ll remember us.’

‘He never stopped talking,’ Elizabeth added.

I smiled. That had to be Terry.

Hawthorne didn’t have any more questions, so Elizabeth weighed in. ‘We want to help, Mr Hawthorne. Or rather, I do. And if you’re willing to consider something rather unorthodox, there may be something I can do.’

‘And what’s that, Mrs Lovell?’

‘Elizabeth, please.’ She drew a breath. Suddenly, I knew what was coming. ‘I have helped the police once or twice in Jersey,’ she continued. ‘Nothing as serious as murder, but they have called on me and found me useful from time to time.’

‘There was that kid who disappeared,’ Sid reminded her.

‘Yes. We found him. He’d managed to lose himself in the nature reserve at Les Mielles. His parents were extremely grateful.’

‘Are you suggesting going to the other side of the mirror?’ Hawthorne asked.

He was asking her if she intended to talk with the dead and he was being careful to use her own way of expressing it. I was shocked. It was obvious to me that Elizabeth Lovell was a fraud and that if she did manage to involve herself in the investigation it would only be for the publicity she would gain. Surely he wouldn’t accommodate her? But Hawthorne hadn’t dismissed her out of hand. On the contrary, he seemed intrigued. I tried to remember what he had said when we came out of the cinema, moments after we had both seen Anne Cleary leave in tears. He had agreed with me. I was sure of it.

But he had thought that the ghosts were real.