‘You’re perfectly right, Falls. It’s utterly beyond the power of man, in this extraordinary household, to persuade any single person to keep to the point for two seconds together. However. Now, we left this infernal concert severally. Questing went out first. You followed him, Gaunt, after an interval of perhaps three minutes. Not more.’

‘What of it?’ Gaunt demanded, at once on the offensive. He added immediately, ‘I’m sorry, Ackrington. I’m behaving badly, I know.’ He looked at Mrs Claire and Barbara. ‘Will you forgive me?’ he said. ‘I don’t deserve to be forgiven, I know, but this business has jangled my nerves to such an extent I hardly know what I’m saying. I’m a bit run-down, I suppose, and—well, it’s hit me rather hard, for some stupid reason.’

Mrs Claire made soft consolatory noises. For the life of him Dikon could not stop himself looking at Barbara. Until now, Gaunt had completely disregarded her but the famous charm had suddenly reappeared and he was smiling at her anxiously, pleading with her to understand him. Barbara met this advance with a puzzled frown and turned away. Then, as if ashamed of this refusal, she raised her head and, finding that he was still watching her, blushed. ‘I’m so sorry,’ said Gaunt and Dikon thought he made his last apology indecently personal. Barbara answered it with an unexpected gesture. She gave an awkward little bow. ‘She’s got good manners,’ thought Dikon. ‘She’s a darling.’ He saw that her hands were working together under the edge of the table and wished he could tranquillize them with his own. When he listened again to the conversation he found that Gaunt was giving an account of his movements after the concert.

‘I don’t pretend I wasn’t angry,’ he said. ‘I was furious. He’d behaved abominably, using my name as a blurb for his own squalid business. I thought the best thing I could do was to go out and apply fresh air to the famous temperament. That’s what I did. There was nobody about. I lit a cigarette and walked home by the road. I don’t think I can prove to the strange Mr Webley that I did precisely that, but it happens to be the truth. I regained my temper in the process. When I arrived here I went to my room. Then I heard voices in the dining-room and thought that a drink might be rather pleasant. I came to the dining-room bringing a bottle of whisky with me. I found Colonel Claire and Dr Ackrington. That’s all.’

‘Quite so,’ said Dr Ackrington. ‘Thank you. Now, Gaunt, your best move, obviously, is to find some witness to your movements. You say there is none.’

‘I’m positive. I’ve told you.’