‘Well try, because he’s a separate issue.’

‘How can you be sure?’

‘I just can.’ He put his pen down and leant back. ‘Don’t ask me to show my workings, okay? Not for side issues. It’ll take all night.’

She looked at her watch. ‘Gosh, it’s past four. Shouldn’t you call Richard?’

‘In a minute. We can’t stop now. Help me to think, will you?’

She stared at his jottings. ‘You’ve left out Gwendoline Phoebe Wheelwright and her inheritance. And don’t we need some sort of family tree?’ Suddenly implications began to dawn. ‘Oh – Ben. These are your relations, or most of them. What if …? I mean, aren’t we …?’

‘We have to follow the evidence, wherever it leads,’ he said like a much older man. Or like somebody reading from a book. ‘And I’m not too worried at the moment, because I can’t see anything that leads anywhere. We’re missing about twenty connecting links. We need more facts.’

‘All I can see are the holes. How did anybody know 306Grace was here in this house, for a start? I keep coming back to that. Were they – whoever they are – still searching for her when I brought her here? And what on earth had she done to deserve being killed?’

‘We need help,’ he decided suddenly, reaching for his phone. ‘It shouldn’t take long to find out about K. A. W.’ He was already thumbing and swiping. ‘What if the W is Wheelwright? It’s worth looking at the Electoral Register.’ There followed three minutes of silence before he reported, ‘Karen Alison Wheelwright, with an address in Banbury. That’s the only one.’

‘And you think that’s her? The dead woman?’

‘It could be.’

‘How can we find out for sure? Would there be a picture of her somewhere?’

‘Hang on. Let’s check marriages. See if she married a G. B.’ He went quiet again, giving Thea time to ponder the implications. She was afraid she would never catch up, but it proved easier than she’d thought, as she peered at the small screen over Ben’s shoulder. The story was, bit by bit, starting to take shape. ‘It all hinges on the motive,’ she murmured. ‘Doesn’t it?’

‘Mm,’ said Ben.

Then Thea’s own phone emitted a musical ping to announce a text. ‘Good Lord – listen to this. “Sorry to disappear like that. The truth is I was getting in too deep, and feeling like a fool. I was only trying to impress Jennifer, anyway, proving it was all down to the Chinese. That would have been a perfect solution – blame everything on them. After all, they’re responsible 307for most that’s wrong with the world. Might not be seeing you. Sorry again. Clovis.”’

‘The man’s a racist,’ said Ben in disgust. ‘You’re well out of that.’

‘Yes, but—’ She sighed. But he’s so terribly handsome, she thought with regret, before firmly banishing the man from her mind. ‘Getting anywhere?’ she asked.

‘Maybe so. There’s something here, look. A newspaper report about Karen Alison. She entered into a civil partnership, three years ago, with a woman called Grace Berensen. G. B. In Banbury. Apparently, she’s a successful entrepreneur, with her own consultancy business. That could mean anything, of course. Grace Berensen is a respected social worker, who specialises in elder care.’ He looked up with a grin. ‘I always think that sounds like somebody who looks after trees and picks elderberries. Anyway, the people of Banbury evidently value them as pillars of the community.’