‘What was it about?’ Claire asked. Behind him she could see some anonymous hotel room which, from the background noise, was quite close to the airport.

‘It was a really rather humdrum conversation. Just getting our Bombay ducks in a row for the new production line at Redhill.’

‘Mrs Boswell said she heard raised voices,’ Gillard said.

Deepak laughed gently. ‘No. There were no disagreements, no hysteria. I’m afraid Mrs Boswell doesn’t realise that Guajarati is quite an energetic language.’

‘Then can you explain why Mrs Roy hung up on you, and was then seen to storm off from her desk?’ she asked.

He shrugged. ‘It wasn’t an argument. Maybe Philippa got mixed up about which call it was.’

Gillard and Claire looked at each other. ‘Okay,’ Gillard said. ‘Let’s broaden the conversation. Had Mrs Roy at any stage shared with you any worries or anxieties that she had?’

‘You mean personally? No. I don’t think she’s a great sharer of that type of thing. I’m an ex-son-in-law, not exactly trusted within the family. I suppose that I keep my job only because it is hard to replace the contacts that I have in the subcontinent. However, I am aware that she was far from happy with the slapdash work that Harry did on the finances. I mean he’s horribly underqualified anyway, and there have been problems with the audits on numerous occasions.’

‘Are you talking about mistakes, or something intentional?’

He laughed. ‘No, Harry’s certainly honest. But of course accounting mistakes can look like fraud. Credit to Mrs Roy, she may have had her tyrannical moments but she was a meritocrat. After all that is how she overcame her own husband’s prejudice against women. So while she disapproved of Morag Fairburn as a marriage partner for Harry, she repeatedly promoted her so she could keep an eye on him. Morag is as sharp as a needle, diligent and hard-working.’

‘Were there any disagreements within the family, do you know?’

Deepak laughed and shook his head. ‘Well, where to begin. There were differences of strategy, jealousies and enmities. The Roy family is full of very headstrong people, and if you’re not family, it’s a good idea to duck down into your trench from time to time.’

‘So what are the main issues at the current time?’

‘The same ones they always are: whether to sell up or expand, and to that end who gets control of the shares. I mean when you have someone as pushy as my former wife, then you are bound to get clashes. Especially when her new boyfriend is always pressing her for money.’

Gillard looked down at his notes. ‘That would be Simon Parr-Fielding?’

‘The very same. A more idle man you could never wish to meet. I have no idea what she sees in him. He’s a gambler and an alcoholic.’

Gillard was hardly surprised to discover that Deepak resented the man who replaced him. This was the way of the world. ‘Who do you think killed Mrs Roy?’ he asked.