“There is some kind of complication, miss,” he said, looking relieved to be telling me. “I won’t deny that the police were here, looking for something. But they wouldn’t tell me what, so I’m no wiser than you.”

“I see,” I said. “Well, I promise not to tell anyone you let me in.” I gave him a conspiratorial stare.

Luckily the bedroom door was half open so I didn’t have to reveal that I had never been here before. I walked purposefully across the room and pushed the bedroom door fully open. I didn’t want to have to see what might be hanging behind that door. The bed was unmade. A pair of silk stockings lay across it. A pair of frilly knickers lay on the floor. A dress was draped over the dressing table stool. Two things were clear: Bobo was sorely in need of a maid and she had certainly been living in this flat very recently.

I went over to the dressing table. Odd pieces of jewelry were lying scattered across it, but no earrings. And nothing else that might be of interest, like a note saying, “Meet me tonight in the park.” In fact one thing that struck me about the whole flat was the absence of anything personal. No photographs of family members or of Bobo with friends. No half-written letters, or letters from others. Just cigarette stubs in an ashtray and a bright red lipstick. I remembered the red gash of her mouth against a white face as she had lain on the cobbles. And I felt a wave of pity. This had been someone who lived for the moment but had no real ties. A bright but lonely life.

This thought, of course, led to Darcy. I forced my face to stay serene as I asked, “So tell me, do you know Mr. O’Mara? Isn’t he still one of Bobo’s friends?”

He smiled. “Oh yes, Mr. O’Mara. He’s a good sort.”

“Have you seen him recently?”

“I can’t say I have, miss, but then I go off duty at two and William comes on until ten. So if he came to visit Miss Carrington in the evening I wouldn’t know about it.”

And if he’d stayed the night, wouldn’t Frederick have had to let him out in the morning, I wanted to ask, but couldn’t. Instead I sighed and headed back into the sitting room. “The earrings don’t appear to be here,” I said, “and I don’t want to go rummaging through her drawers for them. So thank you again. And if Miss Carrington does come back, please tell her I was here and had to go to the party without her.”