‘And he didn’t have connections with anyone else here, staff or guest?’

‘Staff? Archie, you surely don’t think that a member of my staff would do something like this? They love this place, every single one of them, and I can’t believe that any of them would defile the church like that.’

‘I’m not suggesting that they would, but according to his wife, Richard Hartley went off to meet someone, quite possibly his killer, and I’m trying to establish who it might have been. He lived here in Cornwall …’

‘And he lived in London for twenty-odd years. Most of the guests are from London – Mr Fielding, the Lancasters, you and your friends. If he had an acquaintance here, it could just as easily be someone he met up country.’

‘Yes, I agree with you. It was something you said earlier, though, about inviting a load of strangers into the house …’ 176

‘What about it?’

‘Well, most of them aren’t strangers, are they? Not really. The Hartleys, Barbara Penhaligon, me – and I think we can rule out Josephine, Marta and Marlene. So the only people you really don’t know are the Lancasters and Alex Fielding.’

‘I see what you mean, and even Mr Fielding hasn’t chosen to be here. He was sent by his editor in exchange for positive coverage and a hefty donation.’

‘What about the woman who didn’t turn up?’

‘Mrs Carmichael?’ Hilaria paused. ‘She gave an up-country address, but as far as we know she’s at the Godolphin Hotel, so I think we can rule her out.’

‘So what do you know about the Lancasters?’

‘Very little, I’m afraid, other than what we all noticed last night – she’s very much under his thumb, and he’s a rather unpleasant bully. The only thing I can add is that they sent a donation of five hundred pounds, but as I told you yesterday, the cheque wasn’t honoured. Mr Lancaster assures me that it was just an oversight which will be rectified as soon as they get home, but I don’t hold out much hope of ever seeing the money.’

‘So you think they took advantage of the fundraising to cheat their way into a luxury weekend?’

‘Something like that, yes. Come to think of it, though, Mrs Lancaster and Angela were getting on extremely well at dinner. They seemed very comfortable in each other’s company, but I suspect that was because Angela is so gentle. I rather got the impression that Mrs Lancaster isn’t used to kindness, at least not from her husband.’ She paused, and gave a heavy sigh. ‘I couldn’t possibly say this to anyone else, but it would be so much easier if all this did turn out to 177have something to do with Miss Dietrich’s admirers. Another crime to lay at Hitler’s door …’

He smiled. ‘Sadly, I don’t think so. That’s all about intimidation so that Marlene knows they’re keeping track of her. There’s no subtlety involved. If there were a Nazi on the island, I think we’d know about it, don’t you?’