“Yes, you did. You were the one who told us to look at the photos and that was the first time I realized that the marquis had to have taken the necklace.”

He stared out the window, out to a blue, choppy sea. “I just wish I’d spoken up sooner about that young man,” he said.

“Which young man?” I asked sharply.

“The valet. The one what bashed Sir Toby over the head. I saw it, you see.”

“Saw what?”

“In his face. When we were taken to the house I took one look at him and I knew right away he was guilty about something. Well, after all my years on the force you learn to pick up little signs like that. He had that look about him—wary but cocky that he’d got away with something. At the time I thought he’d probably nicked something from the house after the bloke was killed, and it didn’t seem worth mentioning. If only I’d spoken up. Trust your gut instincts. That’s what my old inspector used to tell us.”

“We’d never have suspected him of the murder, even then,” I said. “We thought he had a cast-iron alibi. And he didn’t seem to have any motive.”

“Always the quiet ones,” Granddad said thoughtfully. “And we never found out how your marquis managed to spirit the necklace out of that room, did we?” he asked.

I shook my head. “He was very clever. All that talent wasted.”

“Hardly wasted. He was a bloomin’ millionaire, wasn’t he?”

“But you know what I mean—turned in the wrong direction.”

Granddad nodded. “I know what you mean. You and I, we were both raised with a conscience. We could never be happy doing what was wrong. But other people just aren’t made the same. They take what they can, and if they get away with it, then they give themselves a pat on the back.”

That reminded me of one task I still had to do. I decided to approach it straightforwardly and went to visit Lady Groper. When I’d told her the story she sniffed.

“Frankly, I’m not a bit surprised,” she said. “That was the sort of man he was. Not the easiest to live with, made more enemies than friends. Now it’s my job to make sure that Bobby doesn’t turn out like him. He was sent down from Oxford, you know. I’m going to take a firm hand with that young man from now on. Keep him on a tight rein.”

I felt a little sorry for Bobby as I returned to the villa holding the precious snuffbox.