‘And since you ask, yes, you have interrupted us.’ Susan Queripel had a self-confidence that was quite steely. She didn’t even glance at her husband as she contradicted him. ‘We’re having a meeting about the Normandy-Alderney-Britain power line.’

Hawthorne turned to Dr Queripel. ‘When we met at The Lookout this morning, you told me you weren’t involved with those.’ He glanced at the painted signs.

‘Yes. That was wrong of me and I apologise. Obviously, I was shocked by what had just happened to Charles le Mesurier and I wasn’t thinking straight.’

‘You lied to me.’

‘Actually, that’s not the case. You asked me if I was involved in the painting and I don’t do any of that. I’m useless with a brush.’

‘I do the painting,’ Susan Queripel said, with pride.

‘We’ve had to be very careful,’ Dr Queripel continued. ‘Charles le Mesurier was quite a formidable opponent and he wouldn’t have hesitated to bring the full force of the law against us if we’d crossed the line. From the very start, we’ve restricted ourselves to what you might call acts of civil disobedience. The signs, some graffiti, pamphleteering, demonstrations . . .’

‘And murder?’ Hawthorne suggested.

Susan Queripel laughed. ‘That’s a ridiculous accusation. If you think any of us would have harmed Charles, then you obviously don’t know anything. My husband is a doctor. I teach at the school. George is a well-known historian. None of us has ever committed a crime in our lives. We’re merely exercising our democratic right as citizens of this island. We want to stop the power line. It’s true that things may change because of what’s happened. But that had nothing to do with us. The reason we’ve met today is to decide how to continue the struggle.’

‘It’s possible that we may not need to,’ George Elkin added. ‘Now that le Mesurier’s gone, Colin Matheson might explain why he made such a terrible decision to support the line in the first place. My view is that he was running scared. Well, he doesn’t need to be scared any more.’

‘None of us do!’ Georgina exclaimed.

Hawthorne had already returned to Dr Queripel. ‘When we spoke this morning, you suggested that le Mesurier had some sort of hold over Colin Matheson.’

‘I still believe that.’

‘He was firmly against the power line when it was first announced,’ Susan Queripel cut in. ‘He sat at this very table and told us that it was a terrible idea.’

‘So what changed?’

‘What changed was that he was appointed by the States to head up the NAB committee. It’s funny to think that when we heard that, we were all delighted.’

‘It was the best possible news,’ Dr Queripel agreed. ‘He was our friend. We’d known each other for years. I was the best man at his wedding, for heaven’s sake!’