Spencer moved further into the room as Justine continued playing. Spencer retrieved the dagger and returned to join Jane in the hall, shutting the door behind him.

The dogs had been barking frantically from the moment Spencer had hammered on the front door. He put a call into the station to say that DS Tennison was with him at the Barnes property and they would be waiting there with Justine Harris until DI Miller and Darren McDermott arrived.

Spencer went into the kitchen and placed the dagger in a plastic bag he found in a drawer.

‘You think this may be the weapon used to disembowel Foxley?’

Jane shrugged. ‘It’s possible. Lawrence should check it for any blood residue.’

Spencer found a dustpan and brush to sweep up the broken glass from inside the front door.

Justine stopped playing the piano just as DI Miller, accompanied by Darren McDermott, arrived.

Chapter Twenty-One

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

McDermott went in to sit with Justine. She was calm but tearful, repeating to him that her mother had taken Clara and that was the reason she had become so upset. Meanwhile, Jane sat with a very tense DI Miller in the kitchen. He was reading Justine’s account of where she had been on the Monday afternoon of the murder and kept on glancing irritably towards the dogs, who had returned to their respective baskets.

He tapped Justine’s list. ‘Do you believe all this? Don’t you think it’s strange that she didn’t say this in the interview at the station?’

‘Well,’ Jane said, ‘she has made it very clear that we can double-check everything. It gives her quite a strong alibi if we take the time of death to be early that evening.’

Miller shrugged. ‘More legwork. I, for one, still don’t believe a word she says. Now, about this knife. Did she threaten you with it?’

‘No, she used it to open a letter. I think it’s sharp, though.’

Miller turned as the dogs got out of their baskets. McDermott had entered the kitchen.

‘I think we should both go and talk to her now. She has explained to me that she was distressed due to the letter from her mother and wanted me to apologize to Detective Sergeant Tennison if she behaved erratically.’

Jane and Spencer left together in the patrol car. On the way back to the station, he told her he had already been reprimanded by DI Miller for driving to Justine’s and that more than likely they would be presented with a bill for damages to the door. Jane told him not to worry about it: if there was any query, she would emphasize the fact that she had been genuinely fearful and was relieved when he came to her rescue.