‘We’ve given it a lot of thought,’ James said. ‘We do believe that you were spying on the family and heard what was said about events that took place in the past. But the story you told us about how Mr and Mrs Bateman died is less convincing, I’m afraid.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, for one thing, I’m sure they would have tried to save their daughter. After all, you said she was stabbed by accident while struggling with her mother.’

‘But they didn’t care about her,’ Nash said.

‘That’s not strictly true though, is it, Mr Nash?’ James said. ‘Robert loved her as his own daughter, and I’m sure that Mary did too despite their difficult relationship. I can’t believe they would have just let her bleed to death. And as you made it clear that even though you fell down the stairs and hit your head you still managed to get into the house within minutes, I struggle to believe that Robert decided to shoot his wife and then himself so soon after Charlotte was stabbed.’

‘Well, that’s what happened. I told you I heard the shots.’

Nash was becoming more agitated and his face wore a tortured expression. James could see he was on the defensive and so he kept up the pressure.

‘It seems more likely to me that Charlotte was still alive when you rushed into the house,’ he said. ‘And I suspect they were desperately trying to save their daughter. Perhaps they were even about to phone for an ambulance. But for whatever reason you stopped them and that’s why she died.’

‘But that’s ridiculous,’ Nash responded indignantly. ‘I loved her. She meant the world to me. But she was dead when I got there. That’s why I want to kill myself. Without her there’s no point carrying on.’

‘Or it could be that the reason you want to commit suicide has more to do with guilt than grief. You blame yourself that Charlotte is gone.’

‘No, no, no,’ Nash cried, his face red, body shaking. ‘They didn’t even try to save her. She was dead, and they were arguing about what to—’

And that was it. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. As soon as Nash realised what he’d said he closed his eyes and pressed his lips together.

James looked at Abbott and winked. His ploy had worked and he’d managed to provoke an obviously unstable Nash into slipping up. He hadn’t expected it to be so easy though.

‘There’s no going back now, Mr Nash,’ he said. ‘You’ve confirmed that Robert and Mary were both alive when you entered the house. Now tell us what they were arguing about.’