‘If she did phone here after she left the Cadver that night,’ Molly went on, ‘really it would be best to say so now. The police can check with the telephone company, you know, and find out.’ Could they? she wondered. Probably not for local calls. But it hardly mattered. Olivia had been taken in by the confident statement. She became stem, autocratic. And defensive.

If Mrs Ottway did make a call, she said, it was about a personal matter and had nothing to do with the police. She hoped that Molly would respect her wish for privacy.

‘Of course,’ Molly said easily. ‘Because it’s not only your privacy that we have to worry about, is it? Vic and Marie have rights too.’

Olivia Grenville stood up sharply. Her cup rattled on its saucer. To give herself time to respond she walked to the table and set it on the tray.

‘I don’t understand,’ she said evenly, ‘what you mean.’

‘I know about Cassie Liddle,’ Molly said. ‘I know that her name is Cassandra Grenville. I know that she is your grand-daughter.’

In the silence that followed, Molly wondered if she had been too theatrical in her accusation. After all, she hoped for Olivia’s cooperation. She wanted Cassie to be allowed to remain with the Liddles. She added more gently:

‘Ursula did talk to you about Cassie, didn’t she, on the night of her death?’

Olivia remained silent. Her unlined, beautifully cared-for face was quite still. At last she turned towards Molly. ‘I suppose you intend to make mischief with this information,’ she said bitterly. ‘Don’t you think the family has suffered enough unpleasantness?’

‘Which family are we talking about here?’ Molly asked. ‘Are we talking about the Bartons? Or the Liddles? Or are we talking about you and Marcus?’

‘We did what we thought was best,’ Olivia said. ‘We knew that Joanna could never care adequately for a child.’

How could she? Molly thought. She’d not had much practice at being a member of a family.

‘You couldn’t have made a better decision,’ she said. She leaned earnestly towards Olivia. ‘Marie has been a wonderful foster mother. I don’t understand what prompted you to change the arrangement after all these years. And to do it in such a heartless way, without any consultation. Marie only heard about it from the school.’

‘The Liddles wouldn’t have lost out financially,’ Olivia said. ‘We would have continued to pay the allowance for caring for the child.’

‘Money?’ Molly demanded. ‘ Do you think that’s what this is all about? Vic and Marie haven’t thought about money. They love the child. They want to keep her.’

It had never occurred to her that Olivia could be quite so stupid.

‘Tell me,’ she said, trying to keep her anger under control, ‘exactly why you decided to move Cassie from the school in Appleworth. Were you dissatisfied with the care she was receiving?’