‘Right. Now, why does he do that? I reckon it’s because Sir Herbert Carrados is what you might call a bit of a moral coward with a kind of mental twist. What these psycho-johnnies call a repression or some such thing. As I see it he didn’t want to admit to having seen the letter because he’d actually read it. This Australian bloke knew Captain O’Brien had married a loony and wrote to tell him he was now a widower. If what Lady Carrados told you was correct and he’d fancied her for a long time, that letter must have shaken him up a bit. Now perhaps he says to himself, being a proud, snobbish sort of chap and yet having set his heart on her, that he’ll let sleeping dogs lie.’

‘Cut the whole thing dead? Yes. That’s sound enough. It’s in character.’

‘That’s what I mean,’ said Fox in a gratified voice. ‘But all the same he doesn’t destroy the letter. Or does he?’

‘That,’ said Alleyn, ‘is exactly what we’ve got to find out.’

‘Well, sir, we’ve got our suspicions, haven’t we?’

‘Yes. Before this evening, Fox, I want to make certainties of our suspicions.’

‘By gum, Mr Alleyn, if we can do that we’ll have made a tidy job of this case. Don’t count your chickens, as well I know, but if we can get an arrest within two days after the crime, in a complicated case like this, we’re not doing too badly, now are we?’

‘I suppose not, you old warrior, I suppose not.’ Alleyn gave a short sigh. ‘I wish—’ he said. ‘Oh God, Fox, I do wish he hadn’t died. No good maundering. I also wish very much that we’d been able to find some trace of something, just something in the taxi. But not a thing.’

‘The funeral’s at three o’clock tomorrow, isn’t it?’ asked Fox.

‘Yes. Lady Mildred has asked me to be one of the bearers. It’s pretty strange under the circumstances, but I’d like to do it. And I’d like to think we had our killer locked up before then. When we get back, Fox, we’ll have to arrange for these people to come round to the Yard. We’ll want Miss Harris, Bridget O’Brien, her mother, Carrados himself, Davidson, Withers, Dimitri and Mrs Halcut-Hackett. I’ll see Lady Carrados alone first. I want to soften the shock a little if it’s possible.’

‘When shall we get them to come, sir?’