‘He opened the safe, removed the display-stand with its contents and I think only then realized he had engaged the switch that operates the front doors and the interior lighting. At that moment Trevor, who had stolen quite close (just as he did to me when I looked at the safe), said – it is his favourite noise at the moment – “z-z-z-z-yock. Slash.”

‘It must have given Grove a nightmarish jolt. He turned, saw the boy standing there in the darkened circle and bolted into the foyer clutching his loot. Only to find Jobbins rushing upstairs at him. He pushed the dolphin pedestal over and down. As Jobbins fell, Trevor came out of the circle and saw it all. Trevor is still not quite clear but he thinks he screamed. He knows Grove made for him and he remembers plunging down the central steps in the circle. Grove caught him at the bottom. Trevor says – and this may be true – that he snatched the display-stand and threw it overboard before Grove could recover it. The last thing he remembers now, is Grove’s face close to his own. It was the sight of it this morning, near to him, in association with the single twang effected by my colleague, Inspector Fox, who was modestly concealed behind a screen, that bridged the gap in Trevor’s memory.’

‘“A faint pefume”,’ Peregrine said loudly, ‘“and a most melodious twang”.’

‘That’s Aubrey, isn’t it?’ Alleyn asked. ‘But shouldn’t it be a curious perfume? Or not?’

Peregrine stared at him. it is,’ he said, ‘and it should. You’re dead right and why the hell it’s eluded me I cannot imagine. I heard it, you know, when Jobbins was hunting the boy.’

Emily said: ‘And, of course, it’s a single plangent note that brings down the curtain on The Cherry Orchard.’

‘You see, Emily?’ said Peregrine.

‘I see,’ she said.

‘What the hell is all this?’ Knight asked plaintively.

‘I’ll get on with it,’ Alleyn said. ‘After a brief struggle Grove, now desperate, rids himself of Trevor by precipitating him into the stalls. He hears Hawkins at the stage-door and once again bolts into the circle foyer. He knows Hawkins will come straight through to the front and he hasn’t time to retrieve his guitar, get the key, unlock, unbolt and unbar the pass-door. There lies the body, dressed in his own outlandish coat. He strips off the coat, takes the scarf from the pocket to protect his own clothes and re-enters the darkened circle, to all intents and purposes, Jobbins. Hawkins, now in the stalls, sees him, addresses him as Jobbins, and is told to make the tea. He goes back-stage. Grove has time, now, to bundle the body back into the coat, fetch his guitar and let himself out. He drives to Chelsea and gets there fully equipped to be the life and soul of Miss Meade’s party.’