“You know my little boy Sam? Well, about a year ago, I had some time owing, so I took him for some days out in London. We went to the zoo. And there, by the penguin pool, like some crap spy movie, was Laura with a man I vaguely recognized. At first, I couldn’t think where I’d seen him. Then I remembered. He used to drink occasionally in a pub that I go to once a month or so with my bro and my sister-in-law in Lewisham. So the next time I saw them, I asked them about this bloke, and my bro Arthur laughs and says this guy lives near the pub, but he’s Special Branch, everybody knows that. So I found out his name and I asked one of my tame paranoid leftie journos if he could find out what the guy did, and it came back that he specializes in labor subversion. It didn’t take much to work out what he was doing with Laura.”

“So it must have been a godsend to you when you spotted Laura just after Tom Jack fell through the window. By the way, when did you see her? And where, exactly?” Lindsay asked.

“I didn’t,” Pauline said. “The stuff that was in Conference Chronicle was pure Fantasy Island. I just put two and two together when you said you’d been to Blackpool. I thought it could have been something to do with Ian Ross’ death, and the only person who could have possibly wanted Ian dead was Laura. So I figured you had something tying Laura to the crime scene, or else a bloody strong motive. So I write the story about you and her to get the cops interested in pursuing her. And then it turned out that you saw her there after all, which was amazing, since I thought you’d seen me.”

“What? Surely you were long gone by then?”

“No. I had to check your room to see if there were any obvious traces of me. I wiped down everything I’d touched, then I legged it. The lift door was opening just as I turned the corner of the corridor.”

Lindsay looked confused. But it was Sophie who asked the key question. “Can you remember what perfume you were wearing?” she asked.

It was Pauline’s turn to look puzzled. “Sure. The women in membership records clubbed together to buy it for my birthday. Real class. Le Must de Cartier. Marion got it in the duty free at Paris Airport,” she said proudly.

Lindsay looked horrified. Then the irony hit her. She threw her head back and roared with laughter.

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

The cabin steward bent towards Lindsay and said, “Would you like a drink, madam?”

Lindsay looked questioningly at Sophie. “Champagne?”

Sophie grinned. “Oh, I think so.”

“Make it a bottle, please. Oh, and have you got any freshly squeezed orange juice?”