Rita remained silent, so Jane had to push a bit harder. ‘It is very important, Rita, and I’m wondering if you could possibly get me her address and contact number? I think she was no longer being booked as a model . . . It would be very helpful to the investigation.’

‘All right,’ Rita said eventually. ‘Let me have a look. There’s boxes of documents for shredding and Simon Quinn was supposed to come in and organize it, but he had such a hissy fit the last time he was here, claiming he hadn’t been paid and that he was going to take somebody, anybody, to a tribunal. So the KatWalk office has been left in a total mess. I’ll call you back.’

Chapter Twenty-Two

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Jane was working on updating the incident board when her desk phone rang.

‘Sorry for taking so long to get back to you,’ Rita said, ‘but Simon’s office was in such a state it was hard to know where to start. There are photographs scattered all over the floor and piled up on his desk, and he’s left no invoices or lists of clients. None of the girls were in alphabetical order, and to be honest I was just about to give up when I realized I was standing on it! I mean, I didn’t recognize her – I didn’t know any of the girls – but I saw her name. It’s Annalise Montgomery. And there’s an address and phone number.’

Jane jotted down the details. ‘Thank you so much, Rita.’

She dialed the number and someone with an accent she couldn’t identify answered the phone.

‘I’m from the Metropolitan Police,’ Jane explained. ‘Can I speak to Annalise Montgomery’s mother, please?’

She was kept waiting for about a minute before a woman with a very posh voice came on the phone.

‘Hello, this is Penelope Montgomery.’

Jane told her that she would appreciate it if she could interview Mrs. Montgomery and her daughter Annalise, but that she didn’t want to disclose the nature of the matter over the phone. She hastened to say that Annalise was not suspected of anything of a criminal nature. Mrs. Montgomery asked for more details, and Jane, again being as diplomatic as she could, said that she needed to see them face to face regarding an inquiry she was working on.

‘I still think I need to know more,’ Mrs. Montgomery insisted.

Jane realized she needed to take a different tack. ‘It’s in connection with the murder of Charles Foxley.’

There was an audible gasp. ‘You’d better come over, then.’

After she’d taken down the details, Jane replaced the receiver, giving it a small congratulatory tap.

*