“And did it all go off smoothly?”

“Course it did. She made it worth my while, didn’t she?” Lauren said pointedly. Lindsay pulled out her wallet and looked inside. Apart from traveller’s checks, she had about fifty pounds in cash. She took out a twenty and slid it across the table. Lauren looked at her pityingly. The second twenty followed, Lauren pointedly staring into the wallet as Lindsay dug it out. She continued to look expectant as she picked up the second twenty.

“Tube fare, Lauren,” Lindsay said. “I need tube fare. If your information pans out, I’ll get you some more money from Meredith, okay?”

Lauren sighed. “I suppose.”

“What time did Penny bring the keys back?”

“It wasn’t that late. About half ten, I suppose.”

“Had she found what she was looking for?” Lindsay asked.

“Don’t know. She never said. And I didn’t ask, neither. She must’ve left things the way she found them, though, because nobody said anything about somebody raking through their stuff or buggering up their computer.”

“Did she come in the office after that? I mean, officially.”

Lauren frowned as she gobbled the last of her lunch. “Yeah, now you come to mention it, she did. The day before she died. She had a meeting with Baz late morning. But Baz was out. Susan said there wasn’t anything in the diary and Penny said Baz must have forgotten to write it down. Penny was a bit put out. She said it had messed up her whole day’s writing, so Susan got Danny to take her out to lunch. He had a face like fizz when he came back, so I suppose it screwed up his day too. He gave Baz a right gobful, told her Penny Varnavides was a lot more valuable to Monarch than she was and next time she made an appointment with her, she’d better not forget it unless she wanted to start looking for another job.” Lauren sniggered. “Baz had a gob on her like a dried prune.”

“And that was the last time Penny was in the office.”

Lauren nodded. “Far as I know.”

Lindsay drank her water and wondered what to ask about next. Then she remembered the crucial question. “Do you do the incoming post?”

“Nah. That’s Gary in the post room.”

“So you wouldn’t know who had access to the manuscripts that Penny sent in?”

Lauren shook her head as she lit a cigarette, leaking smoke from her mouth like a damaged flue. “No idea. Sorry. Why d’you want to know? I mean, maybe I could find out for you.”

“You know how Penny was murdered the same way one of the victims dies in Heart of Glass? Well, I’m just trying to find out who exactly knew what happens in the book.”

Lauren gave a knowing smile. “You don’t need to talk to the post room to find that out. Everybody knew.”

“What? About the beer bottle exploding?”

“Yeah, everybody knew about that.” Lauren looked very pleased with herself.