‘And by the time you all arrived on the scene, the Slaypest was on the floor and the atomiser on the dressing-table. And she was dead. He had found her as Florence had left her. Whether she’d been able to say anything that showed she knew what he’d done is a matter of conjecture. Panic, terror, a determination to end it at all costs – we don’t know. He did end it as quickly as he could and by the only means he had.’

There was a long silence. Anelida broke it. ‘Perhaps,’ she said, ‘if it hadn’t happened as it did, he would have changed his mind and not let it happen.’

‘Yes. It’s possible, indeed. As it was he had to protect himself. He had to improvise. It must have been a nightmare. He’d had a bad heart-turn and had been settled down in his dressing-room. As soon as he was alone, he went through the communicating door, emptied the atomiser into the lavatory, washed it out as best he could and poured in what was left of the scent.’

‘But how do you know,’ Richard protested.

‘As he returned, old Ninn came into the dressing-room. She took it for granted he had been in the bathroom for the obvious reason. But later, when I developed my theory of the scent spray, she remembered. She suspected the truth, particularly as he had smelt of “Unguarded.” So strongly that when Florence stood in the open doorway of the dressing-room she thought it was Ninn, and that she had been attempting to do the service which Florence regarded as her own right.’

‘My poor Old Ninn!’ Richard ejaculated.

‘She, as you know, was not exactly at the top of her form. There had been certain potations, hadn’t there? Florence, who in her anger and sorrow, was prepared to accuse anybody of anything, made some very damaging remarks about you.’

‘There’s no divided allegiance,’ Richard said, ‘about Floy.’

‘Nor about Ninn. She was terrified. Tonight, she went into the study after Templeton had been put to bed there, and told him that if there was any chance of suspicion falling on you, she would tell her story. He was desperately ill but he made some kind of attempt to get at her. She made to defend herself. He collapsed and died.’

Richard said: ‘One can’t believe these things of people one has loved. For Charles to have died like that.’

‘Isn’t it better?’ Alleyn asked. ‘It is better. Because, as you know, we would have gone on. We would have brought him to trial. As it is, it’s odds on that the coroner’s jury will find it an accident. A rider will be added pointing out the dangers of indoor pest killers. That’s all.’