‘Iliana Eastman? I’ve heard about her. Supposedly controls him like a puppet. Seemed to forgive him when the newspapers ran that Witches of Eastman exposé last week. But your daughter did a lot of the work Eastman’s wife probably got credit for?’

‘And she did it without seeking praise or reward.’

‘And then she gave it up. Why did they leave London? Anna told me about some kind of animal cull scandal and threats against her boss?’

He loosed a frustrated laugh, which told her this was a touchy subject. ‘I wish that were the reason.’

‘Something worse?’

‘To me, yes. I was aware that Eastman came under fire for statements made during the Bovine Tuberculosis crisis. Anna might have been weighed down at times during that period, but I believe she’s fooling herself, or she tried to fool you, if she claimed that was the entirety of her reason for throwing away the good things she had. She went to King’s College to study International Relations. That was set to cost me £25,000, although she quit after the first year because she met Marc Eastman. At a nightclub, strangely. Anna and Marc started talking, got on quite well, and then he offered her a job as his personal assistant, right there on that night. When the Conservatives won a few years later, she was overjoyed. Anna was smart and Eastman often asked her advice about matters. He even appeared in public a few times with her, in part because his wife kept to the shadows. In effect Anna was making a difference. She was working for the country, working to better it. Being important.’

He seemed to want her to ask for more about this ‘important’ work, but she was more intrigued by another aspect of his tale. ‘Offered a job at a nightclub? Were they sexually connected?’

He groaned. ‘You mean was she one of his Witches? Just because an anti-Conservative journalist is trying to sell newspapers and undermine Eastman’s recent promotion by exposing his fondness for extramarital affairs, it doesn’t mean he slept with every woman he came across. And certainly not Anna. She was very good at her job.’ His face grew grim. ‘And then she quit.’

‘I’m not sure I heard an answer to my question there.’

‘The Lotus Eater, Detective. That was the reason.’

‘You mean she quit to get married and start a family? Why do you call him that? I heard you say it before. And right in front of your daughter.’

‘In Greek mythology, the lotus eaters—’

‘Please,’ she cut in. ‘I know it means a waster. I called my own brother that once. I didn’t ask the meaning. I asked why you call Nick that name.’