‘A playing card,’ I said.

‘That’s right. And there was another clue on the floor of the Snuggery, after he was killed.’

‘A coin.’

‘Cards and coins. They could have left a bloody roulette wheel if they’d wanted to make it any more obvious. So here’s what was in their heads.’ He was talking directly to me now, ignoring Anne and Kathryn. ‘They’d come to Alderney. Somehow, they’d get le Mesurier on his own. They’d tie him down and they’d make him pay for what he’d done to William. And as it happened, le Mesurier played right into their hands. He took a fancy to Kathryn, which made the whole thing a lot easier. But here’s something else you’ve got to understand, Tony. When they came to Alderney, they only had one target: le Mesurier. We were both there when that changed and – I hate to say this, mate – once again you sort of talked out of turn.’

My heart sank. ‘What did I say this time?’

‘The three of us – you, me and Anne – arrived at The Lookout at about the same time. Anne stopped in the hallway. She’d seen something that had shocked her.’

I remembered. ‘It was Derek Abbott talking to Helen le Mesurier.’

‘That’s right. But it wasn’t Derek that she recognised. It was Helen! You’ve got to remember that Helen wasn’t seen out with her husband very often. They had separate lives. At the same time, she was “the face that launched a thousand chips”. She’d been an actress and he’d employed her to work on his website. If you check it out, you can still see her now. She’s the one spinning the wheel. She’s the one pouting and giving the boys the come-on. All very sexy and sultry, and she was probably William’s pin-up. Anne recognised her at once. And she was shocked.’

‘But she said she’d met Derek in prison!’

‘No, mate. You suggested that she might have met him in prison and she grabbed at that to explain why she was so surprised. I think you’re right. That’s exactly where I met him. Of course, later on, she had to say that maybe, after all, he hadn’t been in one of her reading groups . . . just in case we asked him and he denied it.

‘Meanwhile, Kathryn had seen what had happened. She had arrived at the house earlier and she had also recognised Helen. That’s why she came rushing over with the drinks and burbled on about the food. She hadn’t been able to warn Anne that Helen would be there. So she came over to rescue her before she gave herself away.’

Mother and daughter were listening to all this in silence. They weren’t looking at each other. They were barely breathing.