He shook his head and shrugged. “Who of us is sure, especially at such a time? I commiserate with you for undertaking a distressing case.”

“I’m sorry that it has turned out so tragically.”

He waved away my apology. “No one could have imagined such an end. I believe that Mr. Aspinall’s fate was sealed when he left the country. Certain people knew that he was arriving.”

“His former nanny was expecting him, Mrs. Farrar.”

Bernard crossed himself. “May she rest in peace. He was devoted to her.”

“But devoted from such a distance.” It was not tactful of me to say this, but I could not help thinking that had Mr. Aspinall come back sooner, and been an active trustee, things might have turned out differently.

He nodded an acknowledgement. “It will be a comfort for his widow and son to speak to you.”

“How shall I address them? Are they known by the same name, Aspinall?”

“Mrs. Aspinall and Charles.”

“Are they waiting for us now?”

“In a private room.”

I stood. “Then let us go.”

He stubbed out his cigarette and pushed back his chair, giving a bow to Annette. “You will pardon us for leaving you.”

“Don’t worry about me. I have friends at the bar.” She took out a cigarette, and he lit it with a small gold lighter.

Monsieur Campaner and I climbed the broad staircase to the first floor. As we reached the landing, he paused. “The family have it in mind, if there is no satisfaction from the police investigation, to take out a private prosecution against the perpetrators of the crime against Harry Aspinall. And so if there is anything you can tell us –”

“I have signed the Official Secrets Act.”

“Yes, yes. I understand. I believe there was suspicion regarding foreign agitation in the Yorkshire coalfields, hotbeds of radicalism.”

I would have liked to put him right, and tell him that cold beds of poverty would be nearer the mark, but I waited for him to continue.

“Surely the Official Secrets Act would not apply in the case of cold-blooded murder?”

“Monsieur Campaner, you said earlier that certain people knew that Mr. Aspinall would be arriving?”

He nodded. “A letter from Mrs. Farrar to Mr. Aspinall suggested that the cat remain firmly in the bag regarding his visit. Mr. Aspinall should have listened to his old nanny. He telephoned Mr. Dell to say that he was coming. Shortly after, he telephoned the Brockman household.”

“How do you know?”

“The Bordeaux telephone exchange noted the telephone calls. The length of the first call was four minutes and forty-five seconds and the second was three and a half minutes.”

“Would you be willing to let Scotland Yard have this information?”

“It is done, madam. And we have also forwarded the information to the local CID.”

“Thank you. Then, let us meet Mr. Aspinall’s family.”

*   *   *

We left the restaurant and walked to a private room on the first floor.