She reached out and took John’s hand.

“When I was divorced I told Frank that I didn’t want any of his money. He was very generous and offered me a lump sum as my share of the house. I refused it. I wanted to be independent. I still do, but with a child coming it would be useful to have a little money, a little security. I’d made a big gesture of refusing Frank’s money. I felt that John expected me to be very uncompromising, very independent. I didn’t want to admit, I suppose, that I had mellowed. I called in to see Ernest, just to ask the name of a good solicitor who might be able to negotiate with Frank on my behalf. He seemed the sort of person who would be able to recommend one. He was very kind, suggested Mr. Marshall and phoned up to make an appointment for me to see him. Then he asked me out to dinner, and got very angry when I refused. I would have told John what it was all about before going to the solicitor, but he found out that I hadn’t been to the clinic and started getting pig-headed and autocratic, so I kept it a mystery just out of spite. When I went to the solicitor’s I didn’t actually see William Marshall, Pam had died by then and he was taking compassionate leave. But I saw someone else who is going to deal directly with Frank’s representative, and we’ll probably be able to settle it without going to court. I’m sorry if I misled you.

“Now,” she said. “Please don’t be so provoking. We’ve disposed of all the red herrings, so do tell us why you should have known, on the night that Pam died, that Jasmine had killed Charlie. And how you finally worked out who had killed him.”

“I couldn’t understand why the murderer chose that particular time and place to kill him. The crime wasn’t committed in anger. There was no evidence of a fight. So, the murderer must have planned to kill Charlie in the seawatching hide. Obviously the killer must have known that Charlie would be there—that made John an unlikely suspect. But if he knew that Charlie would be there, he would have known that Jerry could be expected too. Although the flaps of the hide give a reasonable view of the island, and there would be some warning of Jerry’s approach, it would have been lunacy to choose that particular spot to do it. So, either Jerry was the murderer, or it was someone who could be certain that Jerry wouldn’t wake up in time to interrupt.

“Can you remember, on the night before Charlie’s death, Jasmine poured out the cocoa? Several of you mentioned that, when you described what had happened after the fire. Usually, her arthritis made her avoid having to do anything of that sort in front of other people. When I went for coffee with her, she made me pour it out. Her hand isn’t very steady and it embarrassed her. But on the night of the fire she had to make certain that Jerry would sleep. I believe that you got a strong dose of her sleeping medication. That’s why you felt so hungover the next day.”