Jed perched on the edge of the bed, his left leg twitching like a daddy-long-legs round a lampshade. His right hand fiddled with the dark blond curls on the back of his head. He had the kind of Greek god looks that become gaunt and raddled in the middle thirties. He looked as if he had maybe seven or eight years to go. His brown eyes still moved restlessly around the room.

“I don’t understand why Brian told you I was here. I don’t know what you want with me,” he said. Without the amplification of the conference hall, his voice sounded reedy, the traces of a West Country accent still audible in his vowels.

“I heard you propose your amendment. I need to know what made you do it,” Lindsay said.

“I don’t see what it’s got to do with you,” he said, his lower jaw jutting obstinately.

“Union Jack was murdered this morning. Whoever did it chose my bedroom window to throw him out of. From what I’ve seen of the police so far, and believe me, I’ve seen more than enough, they don’t understand the situation anything like well enough to get the right person in the frame. And until they do, I’m one of the people the fingers are pointing at. That’s not a situation I’m comfortable with,” Lindsay explained forcefully.

“So you think you can come along and play at being V I Warshawski,” he sneered. “Well, excuse me if I don’t fall at your feet and confess.”

“Jed, if I was in your shoes, I’d think twice about alienating me with your smart mouth,” Lindsay said. She tossed the afternoon edition of Conference Chronicle across to him. She waited for the words to sink in, then added, “I could go to the cops right now and tell them exactly how Andy Spence came to be on the scene so quickly. Okay, I’d also be telling them that you and Andy had given false statements and wasted police time during a murder investigation, but if that’s the way you want it, that’s how I’ll play it. I foolishly thought that talking to you first was a way of showing a bit of solidarity. Clearly I was wrong. Come on, Sophie, we’re wasting our time here.” She got to her feet.

Jed looked up and caught her eye for the first time. “You’re a hard bitch,” he said. “Wait.” He sighed. “I’ll talk to you.”

“No bullshit?” Lindsay asked.

“No bullshit,” he agreed.

Lindsay lowered herself into the uncomfortable chair again. “Andy was with you in your room last night, wasn’t he?”

Jed nodded. “I’d been waiting for him since eleven o’clock. It was nearly two when he managed to get away. But I didn’t mind, I was just pleased to see him.”

“How long have you two been lovers?” Lindsay asked.