‘I think,’ Alleyn said, ‘you’ll be well advised to make a complete statement.’

‘There! Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Now, all would have been well if Carol Able, who is so scientific and “un-thing” that she’s a sort of monster, hadn’t made out a water-tight alibi for that septic child. This, of course, turned the Old Person’s suspicious glare upon all of us equally, and so he wrote the second Will and so we were all done in the eye except Sonia. And to be quite frank, Milly and Mr Alleyn, I should so like to have it settled whether she’s a murderess or not, rather quickly.’

‘Of course she is,’ Millamant said.

‘Yes, but are you positive? It really is of mountainous significance for me.’

‘What do you mean, Cedric? I don’t understand—’

‘Well—well, never mind.’

‘I think I know what Sir Cedric means,’ Alleyn said. ‘Isn’t it a question of marriage at some time in the future with Miss Orrincourt?’

Millamant, with a tightening of her hold on Cedric’s shoulder, said, ‘No!’ loudly and flatly.

‘Oh, Milly darling,’ he protested, wriggling under her hand, ‘please let’s be civilized.’

‘It’s all nonsense,’ she said. ‘Tell him it’s all nonsense. A disgusting idea! Tell him.’

‘What’s the use when Sonia will certainly tell him something else.’ He appealed to Alleyn. ‘You do understand, don’t you? I mean, one can’t deny she’s decorative and in a way it would have been quite fun. Don’t you think it would have worked, Mr Alleyn? I do.’

His mother again began to protest. He freed himself with ugly petulance and scrambled to his feet. ‘You’re idiotic, Milly. What’s the good of hiding things.’

‘You’ll do yourself harm.’

‘What harm? I’m in the same position, after all, as you. I don’t know the truth about Sonia but I want to find out.’ He turned to Alleyn with a smile. ‘When I saw her that night she told me about the new Will. I knew then that if he died I’d be practically ruined. There’s no collaboration where I’m concerned, Mr Alleyn. I didn’t murder the Old Person. Pas si bête!”

‘ “Pas si bête,” ’ Fox quoted as they made their way to the school wing. ‘Meaning, “not such a fool.” I shouldn’t say he was, either, would you, Mr Alleyn?’

‘Oh, no. There are no flies on the egregious Cedric. But what a cold-blooded little worm it is, Fox! Grandpapa dies, leaving him encumbered with a large unwanted estate and an insufficient income to keep it up. Grandpapa, on the other hand, dies leaving his extremely dubious fiancée a fortune. What more simple than for the financially embarrassed Cedric to marry the opulent Miss O.? I could kick that young man,’ said Alleyn thoughtfully, ‘in fourteen completely different positions and still feel half-starved.’