He answered George’s opening question and blandly disregarded its sequel. ‘Please do,’ he said.

‘Fact is,’ George said, ‘I’m wondering just what the drill is. I am, by the way and not that it makes any real difference, a Beak. So I suppose I may be said to fill my humble pigeonhole in the maintenance of the Queen’s peace, what?’

‘And why not?’ Alleyn infuriatingly replied.

‘Yes,’ George continued, goggling at him in the dark. ‘Yes. Well, now, I wanted to ask you what exactly will be the drill about poor Maurice Cartarette’s – ah – about the – ah – the body. I mean, one is concerned for Kitty’s sake. For their sake, I mean. His wife and daughter. One can perhaps help with the arrangements for the funeral and all that. What?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Alleyn agreed. ‘Colonel Cartarette’s body will remain where it is under guard until tomorrow morning. It will then be taken to the nearest mortuary and a police surgeon will make an examination and possibly an extensive autopsy. We will, of course, let Mrs Cartarette know as soon as possible when the funeral may be held. I think we shall probably be ready to hand over in three days, but it doesn’t do to be positive about these things.’

‘Oh, quite!’ George said. ‘Quite. Quite. Quite.’

Alleyn said: ‘Simply for the record: I shall have to put this sort of question to everybody who was in Colonel Cartarette’s landscape last evening – you and Mrs Cartarette began your round of golf, I think you said, at seven?’

‘I didn’t notice the exact time,’ George said in a hurry.

‘Perhaps Mrs Cartarette will remember. Did she meet you on the course?’

‘Ah – no. No, I – ah – I called for her in the car. On my way back from Chyning.’

‘But you didn’t drive her back?’

‘No. Shorter to walk, we thought. From where we were.’

‘Yes, I see … And Mrs Cartarette says she arrived here at about five past eight. Perhaps you played golf, roughly for an hour. How many holes?’

‘We didn’t go round the course. Mrs Cartarette is learning. It was her first – ah – attempt. She asked me to give her a little coaching. We – ah – we only played a couple of holes. We spent the rest of the time practising some of her shots,’ George said haughtily.

‘Ah, yes. And you parted company at about ten to eight. Where?’

‘At the top of the River Path,’ he said, and added: ‘As far as I remember.’

‘From there would you see Lady Lacklander coming up towards you? She began her ascent at ten to eight.’

‘I didn’t look down. I didn’t notice.’

‘Then you won’t have noticed Colonel Cartarette either. Lady Lacklander says he was fishing in the willow grove at the time and that the willow grove is visible from the River Path.’