“Generous enough to make it worthwhile staying late. After all, I’ve got nowhere to go except my lonely little flat.” She laughed dismissively at herself. “It’s not as if I haven’t given Marcel every opportunity, but he’s not interested. And his real name’s not Marcel, it’s Roland.”

Annie laughed. “Anyone else still there?”

“By then? Only the kitchen staff. They’ve got a lot of cleaning up to do at the end of a service. Marcel’s a real stickler about cleanliness and hygiene. You have to be if you want Michelin stars.”

“When the party left, did you see where they went?”

“They all got into Mr. Blaydon’s car.”

“It was parked outside?”

“Yes. I opened the restaurant door for them and saw them get into it. A nice black Mercedes. They were all a bit tipsy by then.”

“What about earlier? Was the car outside all evening?”

“Oh, no. They couldn’t possibly park there. He had to back out as it was. You can see how the street narrows toward York Road.”

Annie looked in the direction Florence was pointing and saw it was true. It was as Banks had told her.

“So how did he know what time to turn up?”

“Mr. Blaydon used his mobile to call the driver when they wanted to leave.”

“And you’re sure the car wasn’t already waiting outside?”

“Well, I managed to sneak out for a smoke around nine-thirty, just after Marcel had gone home, when the evening’s service was officially finished, and it certainly wasn’t there then.”

“Was Mr. Blaydon in the restaurant all evening, all that time between seven-thirty and eleven?”

“Yes. Wait a minute. He got a call on his mobile and went outside to answer it.”

“What time was this?”

“Around ten.”

“How long was he gone?”

“I don’t know. Not long. Five minutes. Ten at the most.”

“And you’ve no idea who called him?”

“No.”

“How did he react to the call?”

“He didn’t, really. He just answered it and went outside.”

“How did he seem? Was he upset? Overjoyed?”

“He didn’t react either way. Just like it was some normal business matter or something. I was passing the table, and I heard him tell the others he’d be back in a couple of minutes.”

“What about the Kerrigans? Did either of them leave the restaurant at all?”

“No. They used the toilet once or twice—they had quite a lot to drink—but that’s all. The rest of the time they stayed at the table.”

“What was the mood like?”

“Mood?”

“Yes. The dinner. Were they festive, celebrating, businesslike, laughing, arguing . . . ?”