‘Where is the manservant? Do we know?’

‘I asked the captain. He says the manservant made a statement and then disappeared.’

‘Wait a bit, flats like his would have a porter on duty.’

‘Porter didn’t see anyone apart from the residents. The door to Mr Pomfret’s flat wasn’t locked. He must have let his murderer in.’

‘People must have heard the shot.’

‘St James’s is a noisy place. The residents above and below were abroad. A Mr George Bruce at the top of the building heard something, which, in retrospect, he believes might have been a shot, but he says at the time he thought it was one of those nasty new-fangled motor cars.

‘Mr Kerridge says that the murderer must have shot Freddy as he opened the door and searched frantically through his papers and then ran out.’

‘But the porter must have seen someone running out.’

‘He says he didn’t, but it turns out he often nips round to the pub in St James’s Lane. The landlord seems to be a friend of the porter and both are sticking to their stories that the porter wasn’t in the pub that evening. Frightened of losing his job.’

‘I’d best be getting back,’ said Daisy.

Becket was just plucking up courage to kiss her on the cheek when they heard a stifled sneeze in the shrubbery behind them.

‘Who’s there?’ demanded Becket sharply.

He ran towards the shrubbery and parted the branches but could see no one.

‘Could have been a cat,’ said Daisy uneasily. ‘Cats don’t sneeze like that.’ Becket looked uneasily about. ‘Let’s go inside.’

The country house party developed into a sedate and often boring affair: croquet and cards and long heavy meals.

Harry covertly watched the three suspects. The only thing suspicious about their behaviour could be that they avoided one another. And yet what did they have in common? Lord Alfred could not be expected to enjoy the company of a gross glutton like Mrs Jerry any more than Mrs Stockton would. Nor would he approve of Mrs Stockton with her faddishness and ridiculous clothes.

Her son, Peregrine, was always trying to engage Rose in conversation but she seemed to be successful at snubbing him.

Rose had at first toyed with the idea of flirting with Peregrine to see if she could find out anything about his mother but found the young man too repulsive.

Harry had only the meeting with Kerridge to look forward to.

He had held back from presenting the bicycles to Rose and Daisy, feeling that, after all, the presents were a bit too expensive for a gentleman to present to two unmarried young ladies.