“Which room was it?” Belinda opened a door. I peeked inside. “No, that was the nursery,” I said, glancing around. “Her bedroom was next door.” I stood examining it. The curtains were drawn. They hadn’t been on the occasion Rose had shown us the rooms. I guessed that Mrs. Mannering had been in and drawn the curtains herself. There was something about the nursery now that I found unsettling. As I was trying to analyze what it was Belinda shoved me out and closed the door as silently as possible, moving on to the next room. These curtains were also closed. Belinda went over and yanked them open. I looked out onto the sea of whiteness. The cliffs and the estuary beyond were hidden in fog. Belinda was already attacking the large cherrywood wardrobe.

“She really had some very nice things,” Belinda said in a soft voice. “What a pity Rose isn’t the right size.”

“I don’t think Mrs. Mannering would have let her wear them anyway, do you?” I whispered back. “Not the right class of person.”

“Poor Rose,” Belinda said. “I do feel sorry for her in a way.”

“Unless she killed her husband and set you up to take the blame.”

“Then probably not so much,” Belinda agreed. “I say, look at this, darling. It’s perfect, isn’t it?” She took down a gray cashmere dress with a rolled collar. It hung long and straight, perfect for the woman with a boyish figure and the dark gray was somber enough to give the right effect to a visiting detective.

“Definitely,” I said. “You’ll look demure but presentable.”

“I shall need shoes and stockings,” she said, taking out a pair of black court shoes. “Oh, my size. That’s good.”

“And you’ll need underclothes,” I said as she handed the shoes to me.

She rummaged in drawers and carried an armful back to my bedroom. “If anyone complains, I shall point out that I am being kept from my own clothes and, unlike Tony, I do not enjoy appearing naked in front of other people.”

I was glad to see she was a little more combative this morning. I thought that was the right touch for dealing with bombastic policemen. We crept back to my bedroom and I helped her put on the dress. She looked stunning, as she so often did. I completed my own morning toilette and then we went down to breakfast together. The dining room was deserted but there were several tureens keeping warm on the sideboard and we helped ourselves to smoked haddock, poached eggs, bacon and toast. We had just sat down to eat when Mrs. Mannering came in. She gave no indication of having had a troubled night’s sleep. Her face was still smooth and unwrinkled and her graying curls were exactly in place.