‘Well, I hope there’s still a shadow of a chance that it was natural causes, but I have to say it looks highly unlikely. Luckily the uniforms are going by the book, just in case.’

Thea gave a tentative shrug. ‘I don’t think it can have been natural. She was pretty healthy last night, apart from a sore shoulder. Why would she just die like that?’

‘People do,’ said Gladwin impatiently. ‘She could have had a thrombosis. What if she’d just come off a long-haul flight? Or there might have been all kinds of 76underlying conditions that didn’t show – heart problems or something. She’s not that young, is she?’

‘She’s not old, either. Don’t get me wrong – I’d be extremely relieved if it was something like that, the same as you. But I just can’t believe it. Except I can’t believe somebody just walked calmly in and went upstairs and murdered her, either. I mean, I was only out for twenty minutes – that’s insane. Isn’t it?’

Gladwin merely groaned. Then she slapped a hand to her cheek. ‘What’m I going to tell Tabitha? She’ll be furious if the kitchen isn’t done by next week. Everything with her is always on a ruthlessly tight schedule.’

‘You too, from the sound of it. What changed since Friday?’

‘I told you – pangolin scales. It’s the most endangered animal on the planet, apparently. Chinese medicine uses it, so there’s big money to be had from buying and selling the poor things. They bring them here in cars across the Channel and then sell them on. It’s a huge network – almost impossible to track their movements.’

‘Chinese …?’ said Thea thoughtfully.

‘So? What do you mean?’

‘The dead woman – didn’t they tell you? She’s half-Chinese. Didn’t you notice just now?’

Gladwin stared at her, then huffed a sceptical laugh. ‘Come on! That would be too much of a coincidence. Bibury’s full of Chinese this time of year, for a start. Coachloads of them, looking at that row of old houses. She’s most likely one of them. Running away from a 77husband, or defecting or something. Do they still defect from China?’

‘I don’t know. Probably.’

‘Listen, Thea. I really can’t stop. There’s still a chance it’ll turn out to be heart failure or something, and there’ll be no more to be said. Except we’ll have to try and identify her, of course. Let’s hope she’s been reported missing. Oh – and phone your husband. He sounded very low when I spoke to him yesterday. It made me think this whole exercise was a bad idea. He’s trying to be brave about it, but I could tell he really hates you going off like this. And he’s much too nice to blame me for it, even if it was my fault.’

‘I’ll phone him,’ said Thea distractedly. ‘When all these people have gone. Will Tabitha want me to stay here, do you think?’

‘Why wouldn’t she? The builders will be back again tomorrow, and she’s desperate for that kitchen to be finished. Plus, you’ll be handy for the bods from Cirencester. They’ll have a whole lot of questions for you. Obviously.’