“What do you mean, puritanical shit? Just because I’ve always paid my own way and I’m not about to stop now. I’ve worked hard to keep my independence and I’m not about to throw it away.”

Cordelia shook her head in bewilderment. “Look, I only offered to buy you dinner, not become your sugar momma. You can let someone buy you a meal without becoming a kept woman, you know.”

Lindsay scowled. “In my business, you learn quickly that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

“God, you’re impossible. All right, go and get a bloody curry if it makes you feel better. We’ll split the cost to salve your conscience.”

Lindsay stormed out, slamming the door behind her. By the time she returned with an assortment of Indian food, she was regretting the scene. She found Cordelia lying on the sofa with a glass of wine, reading one of Sunday’s papers, ignoring her return. Lindsay began unpacking the tinfoil containers of chicken, lamb, and vegetable curries and rice, and said gruffly, “I’m sorry. I was out of order.”

Cordelia didn’t put the paper down. “How much do I owe you,” she remarked coldly.

“Look, I said I’m sorry. Let’s forget it, eh? Come and eat. Then we can talk about the information we’ve dug up.”

Cordelia folded the paper and got up. “Okay,” she said quietly. “We’ll forget it. But don’t push your luck, Lindsay. You should have the sense to know I’m not trying to buy my way into your life. You going to behave now?”

Lindsay nodded. She launched straight into her analysis of their current position, eager to re-establish their previous closeness. “If we look at our original list,” she expounded, “we can cross off Paddy, of course. And you.”

Cordelia smiled. “That’s very generous of you. But you haven’t been able to prove I didn’t do it. You’re simply reacting on instinct. And that goes for Paddy too.”

“Not entirely,” said Lindsay. “This crime has to have been premeditated to some extent. The fact that Paddy’s duffel-coat toggle came from Longnor proves that. It means that the murderer had decided in advance what the murder method would be. It wasn’t just a spontaneous reaction of anger in the music room. Now, Paddy didn’t know until dinner was nearly over that she would have any opportunity to be alone with Lorna. After that, she had no chance to go back to Longnor to fetch the toggle.