Lindsay nodded sympathetically. “You must feel really shut off from everything. But don’t think you’re forgotten. Pamela Overton’s got us working overtime to try and find out what actually happened. I know it must seem pretty pointless, expecting a pair of wallies like us to get to the bottom of things, but we’re doing the best we can.”

“Gillian told me. I appreciate it. It’s not easy to feel optimistic in here, though. I feel condemned already. After all, what can you do against the combined forces of the police and the legal system?”

Lindsay pulled a wry face. “Probably not a lot. But we’ve got an advantage over them—we know you’re innocent.”

Paddy produced a tired smile. “Thanks for that. But you can’t really know that for sure. I’m beginning to wonder if I didn’t have a brainstorm and I just can’t remember it now. You never think that a miscarriage of justice is going to happen to you, do you? I’ve spent all my life in a world where the police are the ones you call when the house gets burgled, or some drunk is falling through your hedge at midnight. Even when I was dealing dope I never really believed they’d touch me. You never expect them to get it wrong for you.”

“You mustn’t begin thinking like that,” pleaded Cordelia. “Eventually they’ll realize that they’ve made a terrible mistake. We’re just trying to speed the process up a bit, that’s all. You’ll be out of here a free woman in no time at all.”

Paddy shook her head. “I’ll never be able to think of myself as a ‘free woman’ again, Cordelia.”

Seeing that the conversation was moving into channels likely to depress Paddy even further, Lindsay interrupted.

“Look, Paddy, we’re only allowed quarter of an hour. We need to pick your brains about the other people involved in this business. We’ve already talked to Margaret Macdonald about her relationship with Lorna—believe it or not, it turns out they were lovers years ago.”

“Margaret? And Lorna?” Paddy interrupted. “That’s incredible. I thought I knew Margaret well. But I’d no idea. My God, the skeletons are falling out of the cupboards now, aren’t they?”

“You’re not wrong there. But we think we’ll have to rule her out and we don’t want to have to drag her in as a red herring just to cast doubt on the evidence against you, not unless it’s absolutely necessary. We’ve also got something on Sarah Cartwright’s father that could be promising. But we need some other lines of attack. Who else might have wanted to see the back of Lorna?”

Cordelia butted in, “For example, did Caroline Barrington think that Lorna was behind her parents’ marriage breakup?”