Justine stood up. ‘There was no need to bring the other two in here. Take them into the kitchen and then go out and look for him. He usually makes his way directly across the road. If you take the dog whistle he should come back. Unless . . . ’ She turned to Miller. ‘Do you mind if I go and get the dog?’

Miller stood up and switched off the tape recorder. ‘Yes, I’m afraid I do mind.’ He looked over towards Jane, pointing at her with his pen.

‘Tennison, perhaps you could go and assist Mr. Henson?’

Jane followed George down the wide hallway with Victorian mosaic tiles and into the kitchen. He shut the door behind her.

‘It’s as if I have nothing fucking else to do apart from look after these dogs,’ he complained. ‘She won’t hear a word against them. They piss and shit everywhere, and as for this Jack Russell, he’s managed to eat his way through the legs of two stools. God forbid that you should leave a shoe out. He’ll have it buried in the garden in minutes.’

Jane waited while he pulled on a jacket and fetched a lead, taking in the large farmhouse-style kitchen, with a white stove, fitted pine cupboards, and a big pine kitchen table with matching chairs and cushions. There was even a row of costly copper pans hanging on the wall. There was a warm, family atmosphere in the kitchen, with its fridge magnets and childish drawings pinned to the wall – so different from the designer one in Foxley’s Kensington flat. It was easy to see why Foxley would find it hard to leave this house.

*

Spencer was in a car with DCI Collins, on their way to interview Foxley & Myers’ accountant, John Nathan.

‘Make sure you pay attention and take proper notes,’ Collins told him. ‘I read your description of Mandy Pilkington’s security guard, Ahmed Farook, looking like Odd Job from Goldfinger. All very amusing, but why didn’t you mention that he had a bloody police record, even though the offence occurred a considerable time ago?’

‘Miss Pilkington gave him a very strong alibi,’ Spencer argued. ‘On the afternoon of Foxley’s murder he was at her property, verified by two witnesses, and later in the evening he was driving a client. I did put this in the report, sir.’

‘You cannot cut corners, Detective Sergeant Gibbs. It’s standard practice to check out the previous convictions of people you interview and put the details on the descriptive form.’

Spencer nodded, taking it on the chin. He knew he had made a mistake, and after being demoted, he couldn’t afford to make another one.

*

Once Spencer and Collins were seated in Nathan’s office, Spencer immediately started taking notes, listening attentively to every word as Nathan outlined the financial structure of the company.

‘Mr. Foxley owned fifty-two percent of the company, and Mr. Myers owned the rest.’