‘Why the sudden urge to travel?’

‘Oh, call it a whim. Call it an interest in foreign trade.’ He dragged on his cigarette, brushed ash from his dressing gown. ‘And there’s also the little matter of not wanting to be murdered, of course.’

‘What?’

‘Oh Michael, Michael, Michael, you’ve lived in London for so long but you’re still a babe in the woods. If I were to open these ruby lips for any purpose other than the usual, the next time you’d see me would be in the morgue. Fished out of the river, perhaps, or pieced together from little bits they’ve found scattered around the woods of south-east England.’

‘So you do know something.’

‘You said it, not me.’

‘Who are you frightened of, Stephen?’

He cocked a hand behind his ear, counting footsteps as Vera descended the stairs. The street door slammed.

‘Quick, go to the window and see if she’s gone.’

‘Yes. He’s walking down the street.’

‘Right. Now listen well. No, stay there. You’re on guard.’

‘Don’t you trust him?’

‘I don’t trust anyone, dear. Spare me the soulful expression. If I were to trust anyone, it would be you, but it’s so much easier to be a suspicious cow.’

‘But Mervyn’s in prison and …’

‘Yes, I know. Sympathy, and all that. But there is nothing I can do.’

I stepped over to the couch, stood over him. ‘But you must.’

‘Oh, go on then,’ he said, putting one hand behind his head and adopting a Mae West voice, ‘persuade me.’

‘Stephen, for Christ’s sake, an innocent man is in prison …’

‘Innocent? Your Mervyn? Pull the other one, dear, it’s got bells on.’

‘You don’t think he did it.’ I sat down.

‘Oh dear. That’s taken the wind out of your whatsits, hasn’t it? Well no, for what it’s worth, I don’t think Mervyn killed Gerald. But someone’s got to go down, and it looks like it’s going to be him.’

‘Why? He didn’t do it.’

‘Maybe not, but he did plenty of other things. I hate to be the one to break this to you, Michael, I really do, but Mervyn wasn’t exactly Snow White.’

‘I know about the pictures he did for Gerald.’

‘Oh, them.’ He waved a dismissive hand. ‘And did he tell you about Lady Templeton and her little circle? And his many friends and shall we say investors in the West End?’

‘I don’t want to hear this.’

‘I don’t imagine you do. But I’m sorry to say that Mervyn put himself about a bit and was not very careful about covering his tracks. Gerald wasn’t the only one who caught him with his knickers down. Quite the flasher, was our Airman Wright, as you well know.’

I swallowed hard. ‘But he did not kill Gerald.’

‘Granted.’

‘So who did?’

‘We may never know. But as far as the police are concerned, he will do very nicely.’

‘What about evidence?’

‘Darling, I hate to disillusion you, but in a case like this, evidence is the very last thing on anyone’s minds. The police have their reasons for wanting a quick, clean conviction. Mervyn suits everyone’s purposes very well. He’s so … visible.’