“No, I’m just a visitor,” I said. “I was invited to stay by the dowager duchess. She wanted some young people in the house when the heir to the dukedom arrived from Australia.”

“I read about that,” he said. “Rum business, wasn’t it—finding a long-lost heir on a sheep station in the middle of nowhere. Almost too good to be true.”

“I believe a lot of background checking was done before he was brought here. He has a valid birth certificate, and his mother had a valid marriage license.”

“But until recently the family didn’t even know of his existence?”

“That’s correct. His father, who was the younger son of the old duke, went to Australia before the war, but returned home to serve his country as soon as war was declared. He was killed in action almost immediately and never had a chance to tell his family that he had married. And he never had a chance to see his son either.”

“Sounds rather fishy to me,” the inspector said.

“Well, the dowager duchess accepted Jack immediately. Apparently the resemblance to her dead son is very strong.”

“All the same, I think we’ll get in touch with the police in Australia, just in case. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone has shown up out of the blue claiming to be the heir to a fortune.”

“Except that he was reluctant to come and feels clearly out of place here. I think he can’t wait to get back to Australia.”

“With the money in his pocket now, eh? I understand that the dukedom comes with a serious fortune.”

“I didn’t get the impression that money was all that important to Jack.”

“Money’s important to everyone, my dear young lady,” he said. “Trust me. Wave enough pound notes in front of someone and they’ll be willing to commit all sorts of crimes.” He motioned me to sit in one of the armchairs beside the fire, and took the other one himself. “Now as I said, you seem like a sensible type of girl, so I wanted to get your take on this family before I start to interview them. Is there anything I should know? Any arguments or hostilities going on behind the scenes?”

“Look, Chief Inspector, I don’t feel comfortable in the role of the telltale,” I said. “As you said, I’m an outsider and I’ve only been here for a week or so. That’s only long enough for superficial impressions.”

He was looking at me half amused, half suspicious. “You lot always stick together, no matter what, don’t you? It’s always us versus them. All right. Give me those superficial impressions then. Let’s start with the man who has been murdered: Duke Cedric. Tell me about him?”