‘What!’

‘In vacuum cleaners. But that did not altogether agree with my chest. I got very tired and you wouldn’t believe how rude some women can be. Positively odious! So I gave it up for stamps.’

His voice, muffled and insecure though it was, seemed the voice of an educated man. Alleyn wondered if he had been born to vacuum cleaners and philately.

‘How long were you in Liverpool, Mr Legge?’

‘Nearly two years.’

‘And before that?’

‘I was in London. In the City. I was born in London. Why do you ask?’

‘Routine, Mr Legge,’ said Alleyn and thought of Cubitt. ‘What I was going to ask you was this. Had you ever met Mr Watchman before he arrived at Ottercombe?’

‘Yes, indeed.’

Alleyn looked up.

‘Do you mind telling us where you met him? You need not answer any of these questions, of course, if you don’t want to.’

‘I don’t in the least object, Chief Inspector. I met him in a slight collision at Diddlestock corner. He was very nice about it.’

Alleyn stared at him and he blinked nervously. Fox, Alleyn noticed, was stifling a grin.

‘Was that the first time you saw him?’

‘Oh, no. I’d seen him before. In court.’

‘What?’

‘I used to go a great deal to the courts when I was in London. I always found it very absorbing. Of course, Mr Watchman didn’t know me.’

‘I see.’

Alleyn moved Abel’s best inkpot from one side of the table to the other and stared thoughtfully at it.

‘Mr Legge,’ he said at last, ‘how much did you have to drink on that Friday night?’

‘Too much,’ said Legge quickly. ‘I realize it now. Not so much as the others, but too much. I have a good head as a rule, a very good head. But unless he moved his finger, which I still think possible, I must have taken too much.’ He gave Alleyn a sidelong glance.

‘I usually play my best,’ said Mr Legge, ‘when I am a little intoxicated. I must have overdone it. I shall never forgive myself, never.’

‘How long was it,’ Alleyn asked, ‘before you realized what had happened?’

‘Oh, a very long time. I thought it must be tetanus. I’ve seen a man with tetanus. You see, I had forgotten about that dreadful stuff. I had forgotten that Mr Pomeroy opened the cupboard that afternoon.’

‘That was for—’