‘My dear Gay,’ Poole said, ‘I don’t suppose Ella or Mr Alleyn or any of us imagines you went into Ben’s room, knocked him senseless with a straight left to the jaw and then turned the gas on. We merely want to know what you did do.’

J.G. who had given a sharp ejaculation and, half-risen from his chair, now sank back.

Alleyn said: ‘It would also be interesting, Mr Poole, to hear how you knew about the straight left to the jaw.’

Poole was behind Martyn and a little removed from her. She felt his stillness in her own bones. When he spoke it was a shock rather than a relief to hear how easy and relaxed his voice sounded.

‘Do you realize, Alleyn,’ he said, ‘you’ve given me an opportunity to use, in reverse, a really smashing detective’s cliché. I didn’t know. You have just told me!’

‘And that,’ Alleyn said with some relish, ‘as I believe you would say in the profession, takes me off with a hollow laugh and a faint hiss. So you merely guessed at the straight left?’

‘If Ben was killed, and I don’t believe he was, it seemed to me to be the only way this murder could be brought about.’

‘Surely not,’ Alleyn said without emphasis. ‘There is the method that was used before in this theatre with complete success.’

‘I don’t know that I would describe as completely successful, a method that ended with the arrest of its employer.’

‘Oh,’ Alleyn said lightly, ‘that’s another story. He underestimated our methods.’

‘A good enough warning to anyone else not to follow his plan of action.’

‘Or perhaps merely a hint that it could be improved upon,’ Alleyn said. ‘What do you think, Mr Darcey?’

‘I?’ J.G. sounded bewildered. ‘I don’t know. I’m afraid I haven’t followed the argument.’

‘You were still thinking about the straight-left theory perhaps?’

‘I believe with the others that it was suicide,’ said J.G. He had sat down again beside Gay. His legs were stretched out before him and crossed at the ankles, his hands were in his trouser pockets and his chin on his chest. It was the attitude of a distinguished MP during a damaging speech from the opposite side of the House.

Alleyn said: ‘And we still don’t know when Miss Gainsford left the greenroom.’

‘Oh, lawks!’ Parry ejaculated. ‘This is too tiresome, J.G., you looked in at the greenroom door when we came back for the curtain call, don’t you remember? Was she there then? Were you there, then, Gay darling?’