He frowned. ‘Sure you’re okay to be here?’

‘I am. Much better than yesterday.’

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Here if you need me.’

‘Oh,’ she said, remembering Luke Gasparini. ‘Any sign of that hire car?’

He shook his head. ‘They never came back to us. I’ll chase it as soon as they open, though.’

Clare nodded her thanks and moved to the whiteboard to begin the briefing. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Thanks for turning out, everyone. I think we’re starting to make progress.’ She looked at the board for a moment then said, ‘First of all, anything come in overnight?’

Chris raised a hand. ‘David Fox agreed to remain in custody until his DNA comes back.’

‘Dundee?’

‘Yeah. They kept him last night and they’ll bring him over if he needs to be charged.’

‘Thanks, Chris. That it?’

He indicated it was and Clare looked back at the board again. She tapped Gaby’s photo. ‘Yesterday, as most of you know, we found Gaby in a cottage about half an hour from here. She was comatose and close to death, having ingested a large quantity of diazepam.’

‘Suicide?’ Gary asked.

Clare shook her head. ‘It seems unlikely, although Gaby’s recollection is hazy. My thoughts are someone added the tablets to her coffee.’

‘How much had she taken?’ Bill asked.

‘The medics reckon around forty or fifty milligrams. Certainly a toxic dose for someone of Gaby’s size. She’d been prescribed five-milligram tablets so we’re only talking eight, maybe ten, needed to kill her.’

Nita raised her hand. ‘Any idea who’s responsible?’

‘Possibly,’ Clare said. ‘We’re working on the theory that Luke Gasparini was desperate for money and decided to kill his wife.’

‘Bit extreme,’ Bill said.

Clare nodded. ‘I agree. But he’s in one hell of a mess with money. Plus he tried to blame Russell’s death on his wife and brother-in-law, an account which we now think is untrue.’

The room fell silent as they considered this. Then Janey spoke.

‘Will you release David Fox if the DNA isn’t a match?’

Clare hesitated. ‘Probably. But I’d like to get hold of Luke Gasparini first. As I said, Luke and David’s stories contradict each other so one of them’s lying. And then there’s Doug Gerrard. He part-owns Lamond Lodge, giving him ample opportunity to scope out likely vantage points for the killer. And he could have posed a weapon there, ahead of their stay. He also owns the cottage where Gaby was found unconscious. So he is now back to being a person of interest.’

Clare looked back at the photos of the house party. Then she remembered the security guard. ‘Has Mark Mooney been in touch?’

Chris shook his head.

‘Okay. We’ll give him till mid-morning then we’ll call round again. I’m starting to think he could have a reason for staying away.’