‘No, it’s not. One day – apparently – I’ll meet the girl of my dreams – although I have to say that after today I’m in no great rush – there’s a bit of unsnipping – and away I go, throwing out potential Parrishes in all directions. Although as I say it, I realise that could have been better put.’

‘Luke, you could have told her that.’

‘Yes, you’re right. I could have. I probably should have. But to be fair, she was hardly playing by gentlemen’s rules herself, was she?’

It had to be said. ‘She might not have died if you had told her. If you hadn’t stormed off – if you’d stayed with her . . .’

He nodded, not looking at her. ‘That might be true, and I would have told her, probably tomorrow, but if you were listening, then you’ll realise we’d both reached the stage where sensible conversation was no longer possible. She threatened me. I insulted her. She landed me a slap that nearly took my head off and that was my cue to get as far away as possible and as quickly as possible. I pushed her off me and legged it. Straight into you, apparently.’ He seemed to realise for the first time. ‘What were you doing there, anyway?’

‘Coming out of the library.’

He regarded her with total disbelief. ‘You were in the technical library?’

She bristled defiantly. ‘Yes.’

‘What on earth were you doing there?’

‘Trying to avoid you.’

‘So you hid in the library . . .’

‘I wasn’t hiding,’ she said, inaccurately.

‘So you heard everything and when I’d gone, you walked around the corner . . .’

He stopped, staring at her in exactly the same way that she’d stared at him.

‘I’m so stupid – it’s only just occurred to me. Jane, did you . . . ?’

Fighting hard to keep her voice steady, she said, ‘I didn’t kill her. I swear it. I honestly thought you’d killed her.’

‘So you said and we’ll be having a lot more words about that later on.’

‘It wasn’t me,’ she said, beginning to panic, because if Luke didn’t believe her then no one would. ‘Why would you think it was me?’

‘Well, you hated her. She was trying to get rid of you and you were caught at the scene of the crime, disposing of the murder weapon.’

Jane shook her head, vigorously. ‘I walked around the corner and she was already dead. There was blood everywhere.’ She closed her eyes and relived the scene. The blood spray up the walls. The pool of glistening red.

Luke was speaking. ‘Well, it wasn’t all over me. Did you see any blood on me? I would have been covered in it.’

‘No, but your knife was on the ground beside her.’