‘Several workers at Nancekuke had died under … well, medically unexplained circumstances. Quite a few more had been laid off with long-term nervous disorders. It was pretty obvious something sinister was going on inside that chain-link fence. I started sniffing around. Maybe I was partly to blame, for planting ideas in idealistic young minds. But it was a genuine story. It needed following up. There was one aggrieved ex-Nancekuke worker who fed me some fairly alarming stuff, most of which I was never allowed to put in the paper. I discovered later he was also in touch with Peter Ellery and Alison Parker, housemates of Caldwell’s at eighteen Barnfield Hill – the two who died. I think that’s what got them started.’

‘Started on what?’

‘Hard to be certain. But something that involved trying to break into Nancekuke. Alison Parker’s body was washed up at Porthtowan, barely a mile from the base. Peter Ellery’s body was never found. They were seen, with Caldwell, in a pub at Towan Cross, a mile or so inland, on the evening they went missing. That ex-Nancekuke worker I mentioned – Tom Noy? He lived at Mount Hawke, a stone’s throw from Towan Cross. None of that’s a coincidence. What exactly happened – how they died – I don’t know. Accidental drowning? Or a fatal encounter with base security? I can’t say. Whether Caldwell can say I’ve never been sure. But he’s never left the mystery alone, has he? Your journey from Japan confirms that. So are you going to tell me what you were hoping to learn from him? Or what you think he was hoping to learn from you?’

‘He said he had information about who’d given Shoko Asahara, leader of Aum Shinrikyo, details of how to manufacture sarin.’ Wada wondered if Holgate would query this, but she was guessing he knew very little of how the cult had functioned. ‘I hoped he’d give me evidence about other people who might have been responsible for my husband’s death.’

‘I’m surprised Caldwell saw any connection between Nancekuke and the Tokyo attack.’

‘Sarin is the connection, Mr Holgate.’

‘Even so … it’s a stretch, isn’t it? Although …’ Holgate frowned and kneaded his hands. ‘Caldwell’s missing. And the man you told the police stole his computer was Japanese, wasn’t he?’

‘He appeared to be.’

‘So, there clearly is a Japanese angle to this. What else can you tell me?’

‘Nothing. But you could tell me more about the other residents of eighteen Barnfield Hill. Was one of them called Miranda?’

Holgate’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Yes. That would be Miranda Cushing. Baroness Cushing, as she is now. If I’d known she was going to make a name for herself in politics and end up in the House of Lords, I’d have paid her more attention. But how—’

‘There was a message from her on Caldwell’s phone.’