‘That’s not quite how I described it,’ I muttered.

‘What exactly did he say to you?’ Hawthorne demanded.

He was being deliberately hard on her. I had seen him do it before when he was interrogating someone. If Hawthorne thought you were standing in his way, he would knock your feet from under you. That was his technique.

Kathryn was angry now. ‘Why should I tell you?’ she demanded. ‘What he said has got nothing to do with you.’

‘This is a murder investigation. It’s got everything to do with me.’

She stared at him defiantly. ‘If you tell Marc Bellamy, I’ll lose my job.’

‘I’m not telling anyone, Kathryn, but I need to know.’

She paused, then said in a low voice: ‘He asked me to go with him to the gunnery at the bottom of the garden. He called it his “snuggery”, which just made me feel sick. He wanted me to—’ She broke off. ‘He suggested something really obscene.’

‘And what did you say?’

Before she answered, she removed her glasses and wiped them with a serviette. By the time she had put them on again, she was back in control. ‘I don’t know what you think of me, Mr Hawthorne, but I already told you I’ve worked in the hospitality industry and I’ve met enough middle-aged men who’ve had too much to drink and think I can be served up like a canapé. I told Charles le Mesurier to get lost and I didn’t see him again. I’ll tell you this, though. I think Marc may have had a point. If somebody’s killed him, they’ve probably made the world a slightly better place.’ She smiled briefly. ‘Anything else?’

But before Hawthorne could answer, Colin Matheson appeared in the doorway. He was looking pleased.

‘Mr Hawthorne,’ he said, ‘I thought you should know. The police have arrived.’

10

Bad Blood

Two police officers were in the hallway. They had not come alone. A group of men and women were passing through the house carrying metal cases, cameras and other equipment. A couple of them were dressed in those white overalls you see on TV programmes. There were more of them in the garden. I could see a spool of police tape fluttering in front of the Snuggery.

‘Mr Hawthorne, I believe! What a great pleasure to meet you and how fortunate for us that you were here!’