He was still poring over his notes when the telephone rang. Mr Nankivell, the Mayor of Portcarrow, would like to see him.

‘Ask him to come up,’ Alleyn said and put his notes in the drawer of the desk.

Mr Nankivell was in a fine taking-on. His manner suggested a bothering confusion of civic dignity, awareness of Alleyn’s reputation and furtive curiosity. There was another element, too. As the interview developed, so did his air of being someone who has information to impart and can’t quite make up his mind to divulge it. Mr Nankivell, for all his opéra bouffe façade, struck Alleyn as being a pretty shrewd fellow.

‘This horrible affair,’ he said, ‘has taken place at a very regrettable juncture, Superintendent Alleyn. This, sir, is the height of our season. Portcarrow is in the public eye. It has become a desirable resort. We’ll have the Press down upon us and the type of information they’ll put out will not conduce to the general benefit of our community. A lot of damaging clap-trap is what we may expect from those chaps and we may as well face up to it.’

‘When does the local paper come out?’

‘Tuesday,’ said the Mayor gloomily. ‘But they’ve got their system. Thick as thieves with London – agents, as you might say. They’ll have handed it on.’

‘Yes,’ Alleyn said. ‘I expect they will.’

‘Well, there now!’ Mr Nankivell said waving his arm. ‘There yarr! A terrible misfortunate thing to overtake us.’

Alleyn said: ‘Have you formed any opinion yourself, Mr Mayor?’

‘So I have, then. Dozens. And each more objectionable than the last. The stuff that’s being circulated already by parties that ought to know better! Now, I understand, sir, and I hope you’ll overlook my mentioning it, that Miss Pride is personally known to you.’

With a sick feeling of weariness Alleyn said: ‘Yes. She’s an old friend.’ And before Mr Nankivell could go any further he added: ‘I’m aware of the sort of thing that is being said about Miss Pride. I can assure you that, as the case has developed, it is clearly impossible that she could have been involved.’

‘Is that so? Is that the case?’ said Mr Nankivell. ‘Glad to hear it, I’m sure.’ He did not seem profoundly relieved, however. ‘And then,’ he said, ‘there’s another view. There’s a notion that the one lady was took for the other! Now, there’s a very upsetting kind of a fancy to get hold of. When you think of the feeling there’s been and them that’s subscribed to it.’

‘Yourself among them?’ Alleyn said lightly. ‘Ridiculous, when you put it like that, isn’t it?’