“Come on, Belinda. Come into my room.” I put my arm around her. I could feel her whole body shaking. I led her through to my bedroom and ran the water in the washbasin until it was hot, then I held her hands under it, watching the sink spattering red as the blood washed away. All the time I was trying to calm my own racing thoughts. I wanted to believe her. I was pretty sure I did believe her, but there was still that nagging doubt at the back of my mind. Tony had come to her bedroom. He had propositioned her. I wasn’t sure how long ago that was as I had drifted off to sleep, but it couldn’t have been that long. If he had gone away in a huff, why had he come back again, taken off his clothes and gotten into her bed? And more to the point, where were his clothes? Had he run naked down the hall to her room, knowing she was in the bath, hoping to surprise her when she returned?

And the bigger question: if she didn’t kill him, then who did? I dried her hands as if she were a little child. Then I sat her down in the armchair beside my fire.

“I’m going down to get you a glass of brandy too,” I said. “You’re in shock.”

“I know I’m in shock,” she said, “but don’t leave me. The killer may come back for me.”

“I’ll be back in a jiffy,” I said. “And the servants are all being woken up.” I ran out and down the stairs. I didn’t see anyone in the drawing room as I went to the sideboard and helped myself from the drinks table. Around the house I could hear voices as servants were roused. I heard hysterical crying and Mrs. Mannering’s calm voice: “Pull yourself together, Elsie. No murderer will come after you, you can be sure of that.”

As I went back up the stairs I spotted a footman creeping down the hallway carrying a candlestick. I made it up the stairs without running into anyone.

“What are we going to do, Georgie?” Belinda asked, taking the glass I offered her. “Nobody will believe I’m not guilty, will they? They saw the knife in my hands.”

“There will be other fingerprints on the knife,” I said. “They’ll find who did it. Obviously Tony had some enemies. We heard that, didn’t we? Raising all the fees?”

“Yes, but how could an enemy get into the house? And what’s more, how did Tony get onto my bed, stark naked?”

“Maybe he crept back to your room and wanted to surprise you when you came out of the bath. He thought he might convince you to change your mind.”