Kim lifted the tips of his fingers in an economical gesture to convey that he wasn’t saying. Knowle’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t argue. Probably a lot went without saying round here. “Anything else you think might be relevant?”

“No. If there was, or is, I shall of course inform Inspector Rennick at once.”

“Why do you think Chingford argued with Fairfax?”

Knowle didn’t answer for a long moment, then he spoke slowly. “Lord Arthur, your brother had nothing to say in our meeting but outrageous, ranting nonsense. He accused me of embezzling funds from the Club as a mere aside in his tirade, though he has no access to the books and no knowledge of the finances, which I may say are thoroughly accounted for—”

“You needn’t say so. I apologise on his behalf.”

“I merely mention it to illustrate that Lord Chingford’s behaviour has been increasingly aggressive and unpredictable in recent months. I might even say irrational.”

“Unbalanced?”

Knowle opened his hands. “If a doctor feels he wasn’t in his right mind, I’ll be happy to give my observations. Now, if that is all, I should be grateful if you would leave and—I say this with great respect—not return. I cannot give non-members free run of the building for Lord Flitby or anyone’s sake.”

“Understood,” Kim said. “We’ll show ourselves out directly. Thank you for your time. It’s been extremely enlightening, and I shall tell my father of your generous cooperation.”

“Well,” Will said as they emerged. “That was interesting.”

Kim headed off down a different stair. “On several levels. Knowle’s clearly hoping Chingford will lodge a M’Naghten plea—guilty but of unsound mind. It would be the neatest solution, after all. Everyone agrees that he was off his rocker, no private matters come to light, and this is tidied away as a tragedy rather than a crime.”

“It should be easy enough to argue he’s not in his right mind,” Will said. “Just let him talk a bit.”

“Sadly, it’s more complicated than that. A M’Naghten plea depends on the culprit not realising that what he did was wrong. Chingford’s galumphing effort to explain away his fingerprints on the ice pick makes it clear he was trying to hide his guilt.”

“Damn. So— Hang on. Where are we going?” He’d just realised Kim was leading them down a bigger set of stairs, into the main hall.

“To find this Yoxall fellow, of course.”

He was such a damn liar. “God’s sake. I bet you didn’t talk to your father about all this, either.”

“Why would I do that?” Kim strode through the hall before Will could reply and collared a startled-looking porter. “Hello, Speight, do you happen to know if Mr. Yoxall is in?”

“Lord Arthur? Uh, may I enquire—”