‘Well,’ said Alleyn, ‘you went into the studio, and put the lights up, and looked at your work. Did you look at the throne?’

‘Er—yes. Yes, I did. I was wondering, if I’d paint a bit of the drape, and I had a look, and it was all straightened out. Like it always is before she gets down into the pose. Stretched tight from the cushion to the floor. If I had a pencil I could show you—’

‘Thank you, I think I follow.’

‘Good oh, then. Well, I wondered if I’d try and fix it like as if the model was laying on it. I’d an idea that I might get it right if I lay down myself in the pose. Cripes!’ exclaimed Hatchett, turning paperwhite. ‘If I’d a-done that would I have got that knife in me slats? Cripey, Mr Alleyn, do you reckon that dagger was sticking up under the drape on Sundee evening?’

‘Possibly.’

‘What a cow!’ whispered Hatchett.

‘However, you didn’t arrange yourself on the drape. Why not?’

‘Well, because Miss Troy won’t let anybody touch the throne without she says they can, and I thought she’d go crook if I did.’

‘Correct?’ asked Alleyn, with a smile at Troy.

‘Certainly. It’s the rule of the studio. Otherwise the drapes would get bundled about, and the chalked positions rubbed off.’

‘Yeah, but listen, Miss Troy. Mr Alleyn, listen. I’ve just remembered something.’

‘Come on, then,’ said Alleyn.

‘Gee, I reckon this is important,’ continued Hatchett excitedly. ‘Look, when I went down to the studio just before we all went to catch the bus on Fridee, the drape was all squashed down, just as it had been when the model got up.’

‘You’re sure of that?’

‘I’m certain. I’ll swear to it.’

‘Did you notice the drape on your brief visit to the studio after lunch, Mr Ormerin?’

‘Yes,’ said Ormerin excitedly. ‘Now you ask I remember well. I looked at my work, and then automatically I looked at the throne as though the model was still there. And I got the small tiny shock one receives at the sight of that which one does not expect. Then I looked at my treatment of the drape and back to the drape itself. It was as Hatchett describes— crumpled and creased by the weight of her body, just as when she arose at midday.’

‘Here!’ exclaimed Hatchett. ‘See, what that means? It means—’