‘Then the waiting is over,’ said Howlett, taking the bag off his shoulder and plunging a hand into it. ‘I am not simply a supreme actor. I am an unacknowledged historian of the profession. For long decades, I have religiously collected material about it and here is one example.’ He took out a playbill and handed it over. ‘What do you see?’

Ruddock needed a moment to work out what he was looking at, then his eyes glowed with pleasure. His search was over.

Peter Skillen called on his brother so that they could discuss what each other had found out. Paul was interested to hear his opinion of Sir Marcus Brough and told him what Ferriday had said about his glib colleague. For his part, Peter was amazed that a member of the Cabinet had given so much time to someone he’d earlier treated with disdain. It was telling.

‘He’s worried, Paul,’ he said. ‘He’s afraid of what you might find and so he’s pretending to cooperate with you in order to divert attention from himself.’

‘He ended up doing the opposite. The only reason he agreed to speak to me again was that Sir Marcus persuaded him to do so. Although,’ added Paul after a moment’s consideration, ‘it may be that Sir Marcus was not acting of his own volition.’

‘Somebody else instructed him?’

‘Yes, Peter, and we can both guess who it might have been.’

‘The Home Secretary?’ His face clouded with doubt. ‘Can this conspiracy really go all the way up to that level?’

‘You’ve already found out that he had spies watching Sir Roger.’

‘It’s a strong possibility, alas.’

‘Their reports may have been directly responsible for his death.’

‘Don’t jump to conclusions, Paul.’

Before he could offer his own opinion, Peter was stopped by the sound of the doorbell being rung with some urgency. The brothers listened while one of the servants answered the door. They heard a man’s voice. The servant came immediately to the drawing room and knocked before entering.

‘There’s a Captain Golightly who is very anxious to speak to you, sir,’ said the maidservant.

‘Then show him in at once,’ said Paul, getting up and turning to Peter. ‘Only something important could have brought Golightly here.’

‘After what you’ve told me about him, I’ll be interested to meet him.’

Peter also rose to his feet so that the two brothers were side by side when Golightly entered. The newcomer recoiled slightly. The resemblance was so striking that he had no idea to whom he should speak. Paul introduced his brother, then suggested that they all take a seat. Once they’d settled, Golightly took over.

‘I’ve not long come from my club,’ he told them.

‘I wish that we had time for such a luxury, Captain, but our work seems to keep us far too busy.’