‘Yes, I did – and I know you loved him, too.’

Another long silence.

‘How’s the case going?’ Cleo asked at last.

‘It’s just got a whole lot more complicated.’

‘And just when you don’t need that.’

‘I’ve not yet met a considerate criminal,’ Grace said. It made Cleo smile, albeit fleetingly.

‘Want to tell me anything about it?’ she asked.

One big difference between Cleo and his late wife, Sandy, was that Cleo was in many ways a work colleague, with whom he could share confidential things, knowing they would go no further. ‘Turns out that the husband of our missing – presumed dead – woman, Eden Paternoster, is having an affair with his wife’s boss. And it seems Eden may have been aware of this and might have put a tracker on their car to monitor hubby’s movements. Sometime before her disappearance, she’s moved all her cash into a company with nominee directors – which Emily is currently digging into. Has she faked her death to dump her husband in the deep doody? Or have her husband and his lover conspired to kill her?’

Cleo looked thoughtful. ‘You once told me that motives for murder could be put into four sets of Ls: lust, love, loathing and loot. Yes?’

‘Well remembered. So which do you think applies here?’

‘I’m thinking what motive could Niall Paternoster have for killing his wife? If he’s having an affair with her boss, fine, he could file for divorce – or so could Eden. But that would mean divvying up whatever financial assets they have. If Eden was dead, that would be much easier – except for one thing, the seven-year rule.’

‘Exactly.’

Under English law, as Grace knew only too well, a person could only be declared legally dead if they were missing for seven years. Until that time, all their assets were frozen.

‘If money is the motive, they’re playing a long game.’

‘A very long one,’ Grace concurred.

Cleo thought hard again. ‘Lust, love, loathing and loot. So, we rule out loot. Leaving you with lust, love or loathing.’

‘Yup, and I’m finding it hard to see a motive for murder in any of those three. Sure, I got the impression from interviewing Eden’s husband that their relationship wasn’t great, but she was the breadwinner. Maybe he thought by killing her, he would inherit the house – and didn’t know she’d transferred most of its value out of his reach. That’s the only motive I can come up with so far.’

‘What do you know about Eden’s boss, that her husband’s having the affair with?’

‘Polly and I have just been to see her at her home. She’s a cold fish – in what Polly and I agreed was clearly a toxic marriage. No love between husband and wife. A difficult lady to read, I’d say, a tough nut. We’re interviewing her in the morning as a significant witness.’

Cleo frowned. ‘What do you think’s going on?’

‘Honestly? I’m really not sure. Niall Paternoster lived in Australia for a time in his twenties, where he’d set up a sailing instruction business. He had a business partner who died – according to him washed overboard from a boat in a storm. Her body was never found, so the police had no evidence of foul play. But luckily – or conveniently – the business became all his and he sold it shortly after for a nice sum, and moved back to England.’