He found Miller sitting on the edge of his desk drinking someone else’s coffee. Mallory sat down in the chair and started to fill his pipe. ‘Nasty little bastard, isn’t he?’

‘He may have his moments, but they must be few and far between,’ Miller said. ‘To start with I’ve seen Harry Meadows, the landlord of The King’s Arms. After the fuss, he offered Harold a drink on the house. Harold told him to get stuffed and went off after the others. Five minutes later he returned full of apologies to claim his free glass.’

‘Now why would he do that?’ Mallory said thoughtfully.

‘Apparently he spent the time trying to pump Meadows. Wanted to know where Faulkner lived.’

‘You mean he actually knew Faulkner by name?’

‘Oh, yes, he made that clear enough. He’d heard Meadows use it during the argument.’

Mallory grinned like the Cheshire cat, the first time Miller had ever seen him smile. ‘Well, that’s a nice fat juicy lie he’s told us for a start.’

‘There’s more,’ Miller said. ‘Grace Packard was on the game. Worked the station until the rest of the girls moved her on a month or two back. According to my informant she had a boyfriend who picked up her earnings pretty regularly. The description fits our Harold exactly.’

Mallory got to his feet. ‘Let’s go back in.’

Harold was half-way through his third cigarette and glanced round nervously when the door opened. ‘Sorry about that, Mr Phillips,’ Mallory said. He smiled heartily and held out his hand. ‘Well, I don’t think we need to detain you any longer. You can go back to bed now.’

Harold’s mouth gaped. ‘You mean you don’t need me any more?’

‘That’s right. The information you’ve given us will be most helpful. I can’t thank you enough for turning out at this hour in the morning. It’s that kind of co-operation that helps us beat these things you know.’ He turned to Brady who came to attention briskly. ‘See that Mr Phillips gets home will you, Constable?’

‘See to it myself, sir.’ Brady put a hand under Harold’s elbow, looking more avuncular than ever. ‘Have you home in fifteen minutes, sir.’

Harold grinned. ‘Be seeing you, Superintendent,’ he said and went out of the room like a turkey-cock.

Mallory sat down and put a match to his pipe. ‘No harm in letting him think he’s out of the wood for a few hours. When we pull him in again in the morning the shock will just about cripple him.’

‘You really think he’s got something to hide, sir?’ Miller demanded.

‘He’s lying when he says he doesn’t know Faulkner by name – that’s for a start. Then there’s this business about the girl – the fact that he was pimping for her.’

‘It still doesn’t add up to murder.’