‘I hadn’t thought of it that way,’ Shireen said. ‘But power battles within the company should be of interest to us, however they play out.’

‘Definitely,’ Gillard said.

Shireen continued: ‘What I did discover, from reading the minutes of one particular board meeting, was that Deepak Tripathi lobbied the other trustees to allow him to retain control of his ex-wife’s small stake even after their divorce came through. The chair of trustees, Vikram Vaj, reminded him that it might not stand up to legal challenge, though he expressed sympathy for his motivation.’

Claire rolled her eyes. ‘That’s appalling.’

‘That’s one way to characterise it,’ Gillard said. ‘But it’s not simply male domination. The trust was built to enshrine the beliefs and preferences of the late Dr Roy. He seems to have controlled the company quite effectively from beyond the grave.’

‘A little bit of immortality,’ Claire said.

Gillard leaned back on his chair and cupped his hands behind his head. ‘So the upshot is that although this company was run by a woman, and with two out of her three children being women, its destiny remains entirely in the hands of men, some of whom were only associated with the family through marriage.’

‘And a broken marriage at that,’ Shireen said.

‘I’m surprised that neither of the daughters have challenged the deed in court,’ Claire said.

‘It’s a good point. Perhaps we should ask them,’ he replied. ‘In fact I think it might be a good idea to do a little more digging into her children’s background: any debts, any bad habits, that kind of thing.’

At the end of the presentation, Gillard stood up and thanked Shireen for her contribution. The various detectives headed for the exit, glad to escape the bad air and the insistent hum of the heater. Claire Mulholland remained behind, watching him collecting up the papers.

‘I think Deepak Tripathi should be our first priority,’ she said. ‘I’ve heard interesting things about his rivalry with Mrs Roy.’

‘I agree. I’m looking forward to meeting him.’

‘Mrs Roy’s last call on the Friday afternoon before her death was with him. Mrs Boswell overheard some furious disagreement before she slammed the phone down.’

‘Do you know what about?’

‘No. It was all in Gujarati. All she said was that soon after Mrs Roy left the building with a face like thunder. It was the last time she saw her alive.’

‘Let’s bring him in,’ Gillard said.

‘Slight snag. He’s in Glasgow until Thursday, so Mrs Boswell arranged for me to Skype him this evening at his hotel there. Will you join me?’

‘Absolutely. Let’s see if this slippery fellow has an alibi.’

Chapter 6

Their first Skyped glimpse of Deepak Tripathi revealed a smoothly attired businessman wearing a light grey three-piece suit and a pink tie. The fisheye-distorted image could not disguise his saturnine good looks. He had dark eyes, a short, neatly-trimmed beard and a deep, treacly voice.

‘My last call with Mrs Roy? Yes, it was on Friday afternoon, about 5.30 p.m. I think.’