‘Her name is Nora Carlisle,’ he said. He hadn’t expected to be called back to the house and he didn’t look too pleased about it, somehow communicating that first a murder and now a disappearance shouldn’t have been allowed to intrude on his quiet Sunday evening. ‘She arrived at the house just after the two of you left. Did Whitlock turn up with the information I sent you?’

‘Yes. We got it, thanks,’ Hawthorne said.

‘I’m worried about Whitlock. Why is she so bloody miserable all the time?’

‘Nora Carlisle . . .’ Hawthorne reminded him.

‘Oh, yes.’ He lowered his voice. The housekeeper must have been somewhere near. ‘She just came marching in as if nothing had happened and even when we told her what was going on, she didn’t seem to care. What did it matter that her employer had just been murdered? She had a house to clean.’

‘She works on a Sunday?’ Hawthorne asked.

‘Not normally. She’d agreed to come in to help clear up after the party. Her husband had brought her over. He’s a car mechanic in a local garage, two kids – but she’ll tell you all this. It’s hard to get her to stop talking, to be honest.’

‘You let her in?’

‘She didn’t give us much choice. She said she wasn’t leaving until she’d seen that Mrs le Mesurier was OK, and then Mrs le Mesurier came down and the two of them almost fell into each other’s arms. In the end, it seemed easier to let her stay. We’d already moved the body by then and the main crime scene is across the garden, not in the house, so there didn’t seem any harm in it. She could look after Mrs le Mesurier and while she was at it I asked if she might be able to rustle up some lunch. Those steak and kidney pies were very good. But they were small.’

‘So what happened next?’

‘I can’t tell you that exactly. I left the house to get that information together and to talk to some of the people who were here last night. I hear you’ve been doing the rounds, by the way, Hawthorne, making lots of new friends. Have you got anywhere yet?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Just be sure to tell me when you do. Anyway, according to Mrs Carlisle, the two women had lunch together and then Mrs le Mesurier announced that she wanted to go out for a walk. She said she needed some fresh air and insisted that she wanted to be on her own, but she’d be back in an hour.’

‘And you let her go?’ Hawthorne said. There was a note of incredulity in his voice.