Mohktar’s face was impassive. ‘Do not be too sure, Inspector. Do not be too sure. The answer lies in Miss Montrose’s head. I feel this.’

Looking down at his handsome, cerebral face, Blythe wished he felt as confident, and yet there was something magnetic and reassuring about this strange Malay detective. He had come highly recommended and apparently had a nose for odd cases; for getting inside people’s heads when all else had failed. But most of all, Blythe thought, this was a man who really cared. A man you could trust.

The two men smiled at each other. ‘Inspector, once the child’s body is released by the coroner we cannot keep the two women here.’

‘I know. That’s why I’ve asked the powers that be not to release her body for another forty-eight hours.’

‘It is not long.’

‘No, Mohktar, it isn’t nearly long enough, which is why I think this case is a crime that will never be solved.’

‘I do not yet give up,’ Mohktar murmured. ‘But soon they must lay their child to rest. I hope this is what they can do.’

‘Yes,’ Inspector Blythe said. ‘So do I.’

TWENTY-EIGHT

When they got back to the house, Fleur went to check her mobile phone for messages. She had left it behind to charge. There was one from DI Blythe to say there was nothing to report today but he and Mohktar would come to the house tomorrow. If they needed anything they must ring immediately. He added that it would help greatly if they could both jot down anything they remembered on a piece of paper, including things that seemed totally irrelevant.

Sam had texted her: Fleury. Will ring 6 p.m. your time. Sam x.

As they sat down for lunch, Nikki said, ‘At Fergus’s funeral, Sam said he was going to try and get home every two years. Be nice for you if he could, Mum.’

‘Yes,’ Fleur smiled. It had been a shock when Sam had married an Australian and decided to live there permanently all those years ago. They had always been close. He had been the big brother, always there for her, conscious perhaps that he was Laura’s blue-eyed boy.

‘Now his boys have flown, I think it’s going to be easier for him and Angie to get away. Also, of course, he’s conscious of Laura and Peter getting frailer.’

Nikki had seen more of Sam in the last few years than Fleur. Both his boys had backpacked to New Zealand and Sam had flown out to sail a yacht back to Sydney with them. He and Jack had immediately taken to each other. They had sailing in common and a passion for boats, and Nikki saw that Sam and Jack were the same sort of gentle giants with little emotional baggage. Funny; perhaps she had subconsciously been drawn to Jack because she and Saffie had adored Sam when they were little. He used to stop off on his long-haul trips between Melbourne and London to visit them.