“What a terrible price to have to pay. You’d probably have enjoyed it, you know. She was a stunning lover,” Lindsay replied, determined to wound Cordelia in return for the pain she was causing her.

For the first time, Cordelia’s calm was disturbed. “Sorry I could never come up to her high standards,” she retorted.

“Never mind the self-pity, just tell me how it happened.”

Cordelia flinched as if Lindsay’s words had been a physical blow. Then she swallowed hard and said, “I went to the flat that afternoon. I was supposed to be there in the morning, but I missed the plane. There was no reply when I rang the bell, but I followed someone else into the block and went up to her floor. The door wasn’t locked, so I slipped inside. I could hear Alison in the bedroom, having a row with someone. I know now that it was Jackie, of course, but I didn’t then. I decided I’d wait for Alison, maybe snoop on her the way she’d snooped on me. I even thought I might be able to find the original of Anisha’s letter and get myself off the hook. I couldn’t help overhearing what she was saying to Jackie, and it made my blood boil.” Cordelia sat down heavily in the chair, her hands nervously fiddling with her glass.

“I fixed myself a drink and searched Alison’s desk,” Cordelia continued. “I couldn’t find what I was looking for. By then, they were making love. It wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences, listening to that. Eventually, they finished and Alison threw Jackie out, adding a few nasty threats and taunts on the way. I felt angry and upset on Jackie’s account as well as on my own, and I was furious when I went through to Alison’s bedroom. She was just getting out of bed, but she didn’t let that bother her.”

Lindsay’s blood ran cold at the matter-of-fact way in which Cordelia told her story. “Go on,” she insisted. “Don’t feel you’ve got to spare me. I don’t want to be left with any doubts, Cordelia.”

“For God’s sake, Lindsay. She started in on me in the same vein she’d been giving Jackie. She was ranting that I was late and she wouldn’t be kept waiting, and she’d make me pay for it. She was like a madwoman. She moved toward me and I panicked. I grabbed the scarf and I throttled her. She . . . she wouldn’t die, Lindsay, it was horrible. But once I’d started, I couldn’t stop, could I? I had to go on.” Cordelia covered her face with her hands and rocked back and forward.