“I believe you.” Presumably no one knew better than Joanna, but it wouldn’t have occurred to Ashley to contact Cliff’s long-suffering wife. “I couldn’t get through on the phone, so I waited outside the studio when he was recording the show and when he emerged I asked for his autograph. I didn’t tell him who I was. I knew that if I did that he wouldn’t even have the conversation and there were so many things I wanted to ask him. Things I deserved to know. I told him I’d watched all his shows, which was true. He seemed to like that.”

“Yes, he would. You massaged his ego. Your mouth is dry, I can tell. Pause for a moment, and I’ll fetch you water.” Joanna stood up and fetched them both another drink. “Nothing pleased him more than flattery and being the center of attention.”

Ashley sipped the water Joanna had handed her. “We chatted for a while about nothing.”

“How did you get him to invite you for a drive?”

“It wasn’t hard. I wore a short skirt and a low top. You know what he was like.” Ashley felt herself blush. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Nothing could offend me after all these years. And yes, I do know what he was like.”

“It worked. He asked me for an evening drive.” Thinking about it now, it seemed a ridiculous thing to have done. How could she have been so reckless? “I said yes. I thought if I had him trapped in a car, he wouldn’t be able to walk away or ignore me when I told him who I was.”

“It was a bold and creative plan. He didn’t recognize you?”

“No. He’d never met me, of course.” She thought back and frowned. “But he did say that I looked familiar. I suspect he was thinking I was someone he—” She broke off and Joanna nodded.

“Someone he slept with. He was thinking lover. He wasn’t thinking daughter.”