In some sort echoing, as she often did, Alleyn’s thoughts about her, she said to Dr Natouche. ‘You must say at once—you will, please, won’t you?—if it’s an unwelcome suggestion, but some day, when you can spare the time, will you let me paint you?’

‘If you look closely,’ he said with an air of astonishment, ‘you may be able to see that I am blushing.’

They finished their dinner and talked for a time and then Troy and Alleyn walked with Dr Natouche to the garage where he had left his car. The inquest was over and he was driving back to Liverpool that night. By a sort of tacit consent they did not discuss the sequel.

It was a sultry night and very still with a hint of thunder in the air. But there was no mist. They came to the top of Wharf Lane and looked down at The River. There was the Zodiac, quietly riding at her moorings with her cherry-coloured curtains glowing companionably. And there, on the right, were the offices of The Pleasure Craft and Riverage Company. Troy fancied she could make out a card stuck to the window and crossed the lane to see.

‘They’ve forgotten to take it down,’ she said and the men read it.

M.V. Zodiac. Last minute cancellation.

A single-berth cabin is available for this day’s sailing. Apply within.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

A Man Lay Dead

Enter a Murderer

The Nursing Home Murder

Death in Ecstasy

Vintage Murder

Artists in Crime

Death in a White Tie

Overture to Death

Death at the Bar

Surfeit of Lampreys

Death and the Dancing Footman

Colour Scheme

Died in the Wool

Final Curtain

Swing, Brother, Swing

Opening Night

Spinsters in Jeopardy

Scales of Justice

Off With His Head

Singing in the Shrouds

False Scent

Hand in Glove

Dead Water

Death at the Dolphin

Clutch of Constables

When in Rome

Tied up in Tinsel

Black As He’s Painted

Last Ditch

Grave Mistake

Photo-Finish

Light Thickens

Black Beech and Honeydew (autobiography)

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