Darcy got to his feet and followed the inspector out of the room. Belinda followed at a distance. I didn’t want to be left out and came along too. By the time I joined the conversation, Darcy had presumably asked his question. Fairbotham nodded. “I think that would be all right, Mr. O’Mara. I’ve no objection to your going anywhere, nor to Lady Georgiana’s. And I don’t suppose your young friend can give any further illumination to this case. But you’ll leave your home address and phone number, young lady. And you two plan to return, do you?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Probably by the end of the day.”

“Thank you so much, Chief Inspector.” Belinda gave him one of her dazzling smiles usually reserved for men she planned to seduce. It worked. He blushed and gave an embarrassed little cough.

“No sense in keeping you bright young things in this gloomy place any longer than necessary,” he muttered. “I expect you’ve got parties to attend.”

As the inspector was about to head back to Cedric’s study, I plucked up courage, took a deep breath and said, “One more thing I haven’t yet mentioned, Chief Inspector.”

“Yes, Lady Georgiana?”

“When you saw the body, did anything strike you as strange about it?”

“That coat being thrown over it, you mean?”

“That too,” I said. “No, I mean that there was so little blood coming from the wound. That was a huge knife. It must have struck some kind of organ or blood vessel.”

He frowned at me. “What are you suggesting?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I presume some kind of autopsy will be carried out?”

“I’m sure there will be. But I don’t know what you think an autopsy can show.”

“I’m not sure either, but I have a funny feeling about this. We may know more when I return from London,” I said.

“You never cease to surprise me, Lady Georgiana.” He rubbed his chin as he stared at me. “The cool way you can talk about blood and stab wounds. I’d always thought that young ladies of quality had an attack of the vapors if the word ‘blood’ was mentioned.”

“That was my grandmother’s generation,” I said. “We’re all rather tough these days. We’ve had a world war, remember. I don’t think any family came through that unscathed.”

“You’re right about that,” he said. “We lost my younger brother at the Somme.”

And he wandered off, still deep in thought. I went back to join Darcy, Belinda and the rest of the household.

“I know!” Princess Charlotte broke the silence. “It’s so obvious. Why didn’t I think of it before? We should have another séance after dinner tonight. Perhaps Cedric might return to name his killer.”