‘Who is Eunice?’ Florence asked, removing her coat.

‘Eunice Small. God knows how old she must be now, but she’s still alive, apparently. She was Charles’s aunt. Anyway, I told her about the funeral. Whether she’ll be at the crematorium I don’t know.’

‘I don’t recall meeting her,’ Florence said.

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter. I have to go and do my hair. Clara, go up to your bedroom and ask Grandma to wash your hair. I want you looking beautiful this afternoon.’

Florence sighed and gently drew the child towards her. ‘You don’t have to make yourself look beautiful, because you already are. And you’ll only have to wear the shoes for a short time – crematorium services are always very short.’

Clara’s washed-out blue eyes looked up at her grandma. ‘Will I be able to see the coffin burn?’ she asked.

‘Oh, no. A curtain will close as it goes into the furnace. When my father went in, it only took a few minutes. I always think it’s such a waste of money, buying an expensive coffin. I used to think that they took them out first, but I was assured they never did.’

George closed the kitchen door, having thrown a handful of biscuits in to quiet the dogs. Overhearing their conversation, he looked at the pale-faced child but knew it was not his place to say anything comforting. As far as he was concerned, he’d be perfectly happy watching Charles Foxley going up in flames.

*

At the station the briefing continued, as one by one the officers involved in the investigation gave their updates. Some of them had made inquiries at two tennis clubs, asking about Charles Foxley. They reported that he was an infrequent player but exceptionally strong. He appeared not to socialize with any other members, always arriving with associates of his he brought in as guests. Another officer had been investigating Foxley’s gambling and said that it was unusual for him to delay payment, but he was a very frequent gambler who sometimes lost heavily.

There was a lot of information to communicate, and it ended up being a lengthy meeting. Eventually it was Spencer’s turn to discuss his report, focusing on the two financiers, Max and Ivor Summers, and explaining how they had backed a number of projects that had been packaged by Charles Foxley and sustained substantial losses from two independent movies. He explained that he and DCI Collins had met with the company accountant and that the separate account for Foxley & Myers’ independent film section was now showing strong profit, although it had suffered serious losses over a two-year period.

DCS Walker raised his finger. ‘When you say that Foxley had major financial problems two years ago, how much would you say he was in debt?’