Taylor was standing beside the pool and shouting into his mobile. ‘We’re coming up to our busiest time. I need an engineer here now! And get the bloody cleaner to mop up the mess.’

‘And I thought at least I’d get a decent cup of coffee.’

He must have received the assurance he needed, because he switched off the phone, turned to her and grinned. ‘Come into my office, Inspector, and I’ll make one for you there.’

‘The cleaner you’re waiting for, it wouldn’t be Danny, that student?’

Ryan looked at her sharply, wondering if the question had particular significance. ‘No, he works lates. Anyway, it’s his day off. Why?’

‘No reason, pet. Just curious.’

She followed him to his office and watched him fill the coffee machine before she started talking.

‘When you’re in this place,’ she said, watching the water drip through the filter, ‘it’s hard to believe there’s any life outside at all. Must be worse for you. Do you live here?’

‘No. I’ve got a flat in town with my partner, Paul. There’s a room here I can use if I need to stay over.’

‘It’s an odd sort of community, a big hotel.’ She saw him wondering where she was going with the idea. She wasn’t quite sure herself. ‘Especially for the staff who live in. Everyone on top of each other. Like a monastery. Does it lead to tensions?’

‘It can do. And not much of the monastery about it.’

‘Romances, then. Love affairs . . .’

‘Sometimes.’

‘Michael Morgan and Freya Adams.’ She took the mug he handed to her, sniffed it appreciatively. ‘What was going on there?’

Ryan shrugged. ‘They’re both adults. I know some of the staff were a bit concerned. Karen, from health-club reception, had a motherly word with her. “Do you really know what you’re playing with?” That sort of thing. But there was nothing I could do to stop it.’

‘Had Morgan been sniffing around younger women before?’

Ryan took time to consider. ‘There was nothing that came to my notice, but I’ll ask around.’

‘Do that. And I need to know if he was here the morning of the murder. It wasn’t a usual clinic day, but I understand he came in sometimes to use the gym. He’s not on the list of members who went through the turnstile we got from your IT people, but he’d find a way through that. He’s not a stupid man.’

‘You think he’s a killer?’

Vera could tell his first thought was for the hotel, the publicity and the implications of the arrest of a man who was almost an employee. Ryan didn’t consider Michael Morgan a friend. There was no personal concern. ‘No, nothing like that. I’m talking out loud, telling stories to myself. That’s what my job’s all about. Mostly that’s all they are: stories.’