“I’m smoking,” Meredith said out of the side of her mouth as she lit up. “I know, I know. But I need it right now. I can stop again when all of this is behind me. Don’t make me feel any worse than I already do, Lindsay,” she pleaded with a crooked smile.

“I’d probably be doing the same thing in your shoes,” Lindsay said sadly. “Anyway, as I was saying, if I could only pin down a motive, Baz would be my favorite suspect rather than Catriona.”

“Why so?” Meredith asked, her voice sharp.

“Something happened between her and Penny that changed their relationship. I don’t know what it was yet, but it was obviously something pretty important. They went from being easy together, enjoying each other’s company, to being stiff and formal on this last trip. There’s no evidence of any similar rift with Catriona. Plus Baz is really uncomfortable talking about Penny.”

“Of course she is,” Meredith protested. “She’s in shock. She’s grieving. They’d known each other a long time. They were friends.”

“Not any more they weren’t. When Penny died, they were awkward and distant with each other. They had a row in the middle of the editorial floor about the very murder method that Penny used in the book.”

“What do you mean, a row?” Meredith demanded.

“Baz said it was a ridiculous, impractical way of killing someone, but Penny was adamant that it should stay in.”

“And you think Penny invited Baz round to give her a demonstration of how well it would work?” Meredith asked sarcastically. “Use some logic here, Lindsay. That argument says to me that if Baz was going to kill Penny, this is the one method she absolutely wouldn’t use because she believed it wouldn’t work.”

“Unless it was a double bluff,” Lindsay countered. “Because she backed down, Baz did, and she never backed down with her authors. Maybe she was thinking ahead and already setting up a defense for herself.”

“She’s not like that,” Meredith protested angrily. “I know this woman. If she was going to kill anyone, that’s not the way she’d behave.”

There was a sudden silence. Lindsay looked at Meredith, a strange suspicion growing as she stared at her friend sullenly smoking. She could almost hear crackling inside her head as connections slipped into place. “It was Baz,” she said slowly. “Your fling. It was with Baz.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Meredith blustered, too quick to convince.

“It was Baz, I’m right. You slept with Baz the last time you were in London. That’s why you wouldn’t tell Penny who you had your fling with. Because it was Baz and it would poison their professional relationship.”

“This is bullshit,” Meredith tried. She had more chance of stopping a runaway train with one hand.