‘I’m trying to keep an open mind at the moment,’ Penrose said. ‘I’d have said the latter if we hadn’t been talking about St Michael and the chair at dinner – after that, everybody knew that it’s freely accessible and what it symbolises, so it doesn’t have to have been an insider.’

‘What it symbolises?’

‘Yes – dominance, prayer, judgement. St Michael was the weigher of souls at the Last Judgement, wasn’t he? Separating the blessed from the damned. Perhaps someone thought the Reverend Hartley set himself too high in the world. Or perhaps it was simply the most frightening death imaginable. Either way, I’ve rarely seen a murder that looked more staged.’ His words had hardly reassured Hilaria, so he tried to offer something more positive to offset them. ‘I’d really like an up-to-date assessment of the tides. Short of a confession, there’s only so much I can do without some outside help. If I can call the Yard, I can at least ask some questions about the people here who are strangers to us. Something useful might come up. And I’d like to talk to Richard’s sister-in-law. She’s local, isn’t she?’

‘St Ives way, I believe. I expect Angela will go to her, for the time being at least.’ 210

‘And she might be able to give me a better picture of Richard’s life and associates. I feel as though I’m fumbling in the dark at the moment.’

‘Would you like me to send for Pendean so you can talk to him about getting across to the mainland?’

‘Yes please, and I’ll make a start on questioning the staff.’

‘Do you want to speak to them individually?’

‘No, it will save time if I see them all together, perhaps in the servants’ hall? If I’m honest, I don’t hold out much hope of their being able to tell me anything specific enough to be of use.’ He rubbed his hand wearily across his face. ‘In fact, hope of any sort is in pretty short supply at the moment.’

‘You’ll get there, if anyone can – and don’t forget that some of the staff bedrooms overlook the north terrace, so somebody might have seen something. I’ll go downstairs and tell them all to gather in ten minutes.’

‘Make it fifteen. I want to look at Richard’s room first, and I’ll try not to keep them from their duties for too long.’

She smiled sadly. ‘Suddenly their duties don’t seem very relevant, do they? It hardly matters if lunch is late, when no one has an appetite. Have you had anything to eat?’

‘No, I’ve been too busy.’

‘I’ll make sure there’s something downstairs for you.’

She left with a renewed sense of purpose, and Penrose tried to do the same, although his hopes of finding something out from the dead man’s room yielded nothing more useful than evidence of an orderly disposition and a liking for Agatha Christie; a brand-new copy of Hercule Poirot’s Christmas sat waiting to be read on the pillow, but the bed had obviously not been slept in. He headed back to Chevy Chase, conscious that his abrupt departure with Lancaster 211had left everyone else without any definite instructions. The guests seemed to have paired off, he noticed. Marta and Josephine were sitting together by the fire, and the High Sheriff’s daughter was talking earnestly to Rachel at the other end of the table. Marlene was in full flow, holding a coffee cup and pacing up and down as she talked to Fielding about Hollywood. She broke off as soon as she saw him. ‘Is there any news?’