“I hope you do not mind my interrupting, Inspector,” Mrs. Mannering said, “but is it necessary to interview the staff? They had all gone to bed at that hour. I usually wait until Mr. and Mrs. Summers go up to bed and then I do one last tour of the house and lock the front door. I can assure you that there was no sign of any person other than Mr. and Mrs. Summers and their guests.”

“That doesn’t mean that they were necessarily asleep. Could have been lurking inside their room, ready to strike. Murderers are devious, you know, Mrs. Mannering.”

“Hardly devious enough to attack the master of the household with a large dagger when he was in a guest’s room, surely? That would take incredible bravado and be quite unnecessary. Besides, the staff are happy here and well treated. Local people. Simple people. Not the type who go around murdering their employers.”

I heard the inspector give a sigh. “I suppose I must agree with you, Mrs. Mannering. When I was in training they told us to look for the obvious first. And the obvious in this case is that the young lady either invited Mr. Summers to her room with the intention of killing him or that he came to her room unwanted and unbidden and she grabbed a weapon to defend herself. Although how and why she had that particular dagger in her room, if it belonged on a wall downstairs, is another matter.”

At that moment there was a tap on our door. “It’s Constable Hood,” said the voice. “Are you young ladies still awake? Inspector Purdy requests that you make yourselves respectable and come downstairs because he would like to question you.”

“Very well, Constable,” I called back through the door. I turned to Belinda. “Come on. We have to make ourselves respectable.”

“All right for you,” she said. “You’ve always been respectable. You were born respectable. I’m the one who has led a rather wicked life and for once, this time, I was behaving with absolute decorum and now I’m accused of murder.”

“We’ll make them see the truth, don’t worry.” I squeezed her hand.

“Do you think he expected us to dress again?” Belinda asked, “because all my clothes are in the room with the body.”

“I’m sure dressing gowns are respectable enough,” I said. “They don’t reveal any more than an ankle. Although that might still be considered sinful down here in the wilds of Cornwall.”

Belinda even managed a smile.

Chapter 18

OCTOBER 18, VERY EARLY MORNING

TREWOMA