‘Yes, I’m aware of the existence of Pauline Outram,’ she said. ‘I’ve never met her, and I don’t want to. I didn’t realize Dad had gone so far as to provide her with a house.’

‘It’s only leased,’ said Fry.

‘Well, that hardly makes it any better. She has no right to financial support from Dad.’

DI Hitchens straightened his tie, a signal that he wanted to come in on the money issue. That was his thing, financial problems. The word was like a bell to one of Pavlov’s dogs.

‘Is there a problem with money, Mrs Lacey?’ said Hitchens.

‘No. But . . . well, it’s our inheritance he’s squandering on her. Mine, and my children’s.’

‘I see. You’re worried that your father has been diverting too much money to help Miss Outram.’

‘Far too much. She’s not worth a tenth of it.’

Fry shifted in her chair to get a better view of Erin Lacey’s eyes. She was sitting to one side, so that she could observe her profile and her posture, the little nervous mannerisms that could be such a giveaway. But the eyes were often just as revealing.

‘You say you’ve never met Pauline Outram, yet you seem to have a strong degree of animosity towards her,’ she said.

‘From what I’ve heard, she’s wasted her life. She’s, what . . . in her late thirties? Dad says she’s never married, never had any children, and never been able to hold down a proper job. I dread to think how she’s been spending her life until now. She was brought up in foster homes, you know.’

Fry instantly felt her attitude to Erin Lacey freezing. In her heart was an iciness deeper than the Arctic Ocean. Professionalism and training barely held her back.

‘That doesn’t’, she said, ‘make her a worthless person.’

In other circumstances, she would have had taken Lacey apart verbally, lain her own history in front of the woman and confronted her with her own prejudices. But that wasn’t what she was here for. Right now, she had to suppress her own feelings, try not to alienate an important witness too much. She felt Hitchens watching her, and tried not to meet his eye.

‘She’s had relationships with all kinds of men,’ said Lacey. ‘And none of them has ever hung around very long. That has to tell you something, doesn’t it?’

Something about the lack of commitment from men, perhaps, thought Fry. But she held her tongue and didn’t say it.

‘Anyway, I don’t think she was a fit person for Dad to be spending money on. She’s not really a member of the family. She was illegitimate.’

‘Do you know what happened to her mother?’ asked Hitchens.

‘I heard that she killed herself.’

‘That’s correct. According to Pauline Outram, she drowned herself in Birch Reservoir. Pauline was only a few months old at the time.’

‘That’s hardly my fault. It doesn’t justify Pauline Outram selling some sob-story to my father when she found out that we had money and she didn’t.’