“He’s away. At your hunting lodge in Scotland, I understand,” I said. “I sent a telegram but I’ve no idea how long it will take to reach him.”

“Oh damn and blast. That stupid hunting lodge. It’s miles from anywhere.”

“What about the solicitor? Did you telephone him?”

“I did and he’s coming down today. I hope he can arrange bail. But how can he do anything? They’ll tell him the facts and he’ll think I’m guilty too.” She reached out to touch my hand but a cough from the attendant made her sit up straight again. “What are we going to do, Georgie?”

“Well, I have one piece of news. I’m not sure if it’s good or not, but you remember the dotty old man? His body washed up yesterday. They said he was bashed about a bit on the rocks but I wonder if any of his wounds might have been the result of a blow to the head.”

“Crikey. So you’re saying that somebody killed him? Why would that help me?” she asked.

“Well, if the person who killed Tony also killed him, you had the perfect alibi.”

“Not if we don’t know when he was killed. It’s probably hard to tell whether bodies that have been in salt water have been there twelve hours or three days. So who do you think might have killed him? You must have had time to think this through by now, Georgie.”

I leaned closer to her, although I was sure the policeman could hear everything we were saying. “I’m wondering if Rose planned the whole thing. She was so insistent in inviting you, wasn’t she? And going on about how she was scared of Tony? What if this was all one large and glorious scheme to get what she wanted? What if she had come down before and pushed Jonquil off the cliff and the old man had seen her? Remember how scared he was of ‘her’?”

Belinda nodded. “I’ve been trying to think of ways that might tie Jonquil and Tony and me together. Was I only brought in as an alibi? And do you really think Rose could have managed to rush upstairs, kill Tony and get back down again?”

“It’s just possible,” I said. “There is a convenient back staircase. If she came up, spotted him coming down the hall to your room with just a bathrobe on, perhaps she might have stabbed him. . . .”

“And just happened to have a handy dagger with her?” Belinda said.

“You know what else,” I said. “The wagon is missing from the nursery. The one with all the toys in it. It was quite big and sturdy for a child’s plaything, wasn’t it? I think it might have been used to transport Tony down the hall from the bathroom. I think it’s possible he was killed in the bath.”