I drove back slowly, trying to think calmly and rationally. I had been involved in strange crimes before. I had managed to find clues, trace suspects, figure things out. And now it seemed it was all up to me. I suspected the police were sure they had found the right person in Belinda and were not going to look any further. Think, Georgie, I commanded myself. The most promising direction seemed to be the servants. Someone in that house had a grudge against Tony. Perhaps he had tried to force himself on one of the maids. Perhaps her brother or father had come to take revenge. Or a relative had lost his fishing rights and with them the family income. I would go back to Trewoma and try to talk to them. Somewhere, someone knew something critical.

The moment I said that a figure flashed into my mind. Old Harry appearing behind us on the beach in an agitated state and mumbling something about what he saw and how he never said anything. I should try to find him and get out of him what he knew. Now with a clear plan of action ahead I drove up to Trewoma and parked Brutus well away from the house. I didn’t want the police to find out it was Belinda’s motor and to seize it as evidence. I glanced up at the windows, wanting to see if anyone was watching me, but saw nobody. So I started to wander the grounds, looking for the old man. After a frustrating half hour I decided he was the sort who knew how to make himself invisible when he wanted. I came out from the woods, onto the open lawns leading to the cliff tops. This was where Jonquil fell, I thought, and found myself drawn to take a look. I knew her death and Tony’s could not be connected but I had also learned that when things seem to be coincidental, there is often a hidden connection. I stood at the cliff edge and looked down. It was not an enormously high cliff, but there were vicious-looking rocks below. At high tide they would have been covered but at this moment they lay exposed with tide pools in the crevasses. If Jonquil had fallen from this spot, death was almost certain.

I don’t know how I sensed someone coming up behind me. I’m sure footsteps would have made no sound on the springy turf, but I turned around.

“This is where she fell,” said a voice right behind me.

I jumped and almost lost my footing when a hand reached out to grab me. Rose was standing there. “Steady on,” she said. “We don’t want a second accident, do we?”

“Golly, you startled me,” I said. “I didn’t hear you coming.”