Hanna suddenly broke into a smile. ‘I shall be glad to accept those answers, Mrs Salton. I’m sorry to have put you through a trying time. However, I have to warn you that you may be questioned again.’

‘I’ll be ready,’ she said.

‘Thank you,’ said Hanna, and made as if to go. Apparently as an afterthought, he turned back and said, ‘By the way, are there any other women here?’

Jill considered for a moment. ‘There’s the maid and the housekeeper, and Anna, of course.’

‘Your cook?’ I said. She nodded.

‘Do they live in the house?’ asked Hanna.

Jill shook her head. ‘No, they all go home when their work is done for the day. Mrs Forsyth used to live here. Until …’

‘Salton’s secretary,’ I reminded him. ‘About sixty.’

‘What about on the rest of the estate?’ said Hanna.

‘No,’ said Jill. ‘Oh yes, there’s Mrs Haslam, the pilot’s wife.’

Mrs Haslam. Something went off at the back of my mind – something I’d heard recently. I thought about it but nothing came, nothing except a ferocious headache exactly like the one I’d had the previous evening.

NINE

I

We drove back to San Martin. Hanna didn’t want to talk to Mrs Haslam. ‘I don’t know enough yet,’ he said.

‘Enough about what?’

He looked thoughtful. ‘Have you ever been to a criminal trial?’

‘No,’ I said, wrestling with my headache.

‘A good counsel never asks a question unless he knows at least ninety per cent of the answer. I’d like to know a little more about this woman before I interrogate her.’

I suppose it made sense. He didn’t even know what questions to ask. I said, ‘All I know is that she was an air hostess. That’s how she met her husband.’

‘Did she tell you that?’

‘Yes.’

Hanna snorted and seemed to discard the information.

He dropped me at the casino ferry and said, ‘Stay out of sight until I tell you to come out. I don’t want you running around where Barstow can get you.’

‘You’re taking a hell of a chance. What about that inspector this morning?’

‘I can handle that.’ His tone was confident but I didn’t think he was. ‘Stay invisible,’ he said. ‘And that goes for Miss Tomsson.’

He watched me walk on to the ferry, waited until it got to the other side, then drove away. I went up to the penthouse. Leotta took one look at me and said, ‘You need the doctor.’ I eased my bruises into a comfortable chair while she telephoned.

The doctor was minatory. ‘You shouldn’t have gone out this morning.’ His finger jabbed into me and I winced. ‘You should be in bed. You’re all bruise and no brains.’