‘Helicopter rides, equipment for maintenance, staff, food and wine accounts for over two hundred of that; he had Beluga caviar flown in from London, you know, from the place on Piccadilly near the Ritz?’

‘Yes, I know it.’ Kelly said.

‘There’s also a ton of cash changing hands here, and if I was looking at a drug dealer’s accounts I’d say he was laundering, but he’s not, he’s spending it.’

‘On what?’

‘We’ll never know. He’s typical of many mega rich business people who carry cash all the time; it’s another way to avoid tax in the country of residence and elsewhere. It’ll take me some time to work it out, and I’d like to start with the housekeeper. If she was paid in cash then you can bet that others were. The size of the place indicates he’d need many more staff to clean, cook, organise events and the like. It just doesn’t add up that he was there for quiet retreat-type stays. It’s a blatant lie, I just need to prove it.’

‘And Dan and Emma said Nellie Lowther told them she looked after the place herself, and employed no one,’ Kelly said. ‘And what were those girls doing there? Did the dollar bill signs mean they were making money? I doubt they turned up there for bridge lessons.’

‘Exactly.’

Chapter 39

‘Have you seen this?’ Kate asked Kelly as she made her way to the lift. She fastened her coat and stopped to listen to what Kate had to say. She showed her a newspaper article on her phone.

‘Published online about an hour ago,’ Kate said.

‘More sleaze for the Tories: Lord Reilly was attending sex party’ the headline read.

‘Oh hello,’ Kelly sighed. ‘Any legs in it?’

‘No idea, you want me to check it out?’ Kate asked.

Kelly nodded. ‘Walk with me. I’m driving over to Laurie Fell. The forensic teams are setting up tonight. After that, I’m heading home.’ She was freezing and her body felt like it was seizing up. It was as if her bones had petrified up there on the mountain and they hadn’t woken up yet. She shivered.

‘You coming down with something?’ Kate asked.

‘Hope not.’ She sneezed. ‘Oh bugger.’

‘I’ll call this journalist.’

‘She won’t tell you a thing,’ Kelly said.