‘The last time I spoke to him was in his office a week last Thursday. We’d had our monthly staff lunch, although I wasn’t on the same table as him; he was sitting in between the Earl and Sebastian – that’s the Earl’s son. They were all drinking quite a lot – they always do. I went to his office later that day to discuss a new line of gardening equipment I’m buying in, and to ask if he’d spare some of the gardeners to do a photoshoot showing them using it, but he was pretty legless by that time. I couldn’t get much sense out of him to be honest. I’ve talked to Paula about my concerns over his drinking. He shouldn’t have been drunk at work. She’s worried too.’

‘Does everyone go to the monthly lunch?’ Davis asked, as Gemma scribbled frantically.

Meredith shook her head. ‘Only the senior staff, and people like Ceri, Ralph’s PA, who’ve been there for donkey’s years. There’s dozens of staff; we couldn’t all meet at the same time. We only do that at the summer party. Ralph established it – the monthly lunch – a few years ago, with the Earl’s blessing. Pretty sure it was so that they could all legitimately get pissed at lunchtime once a month.’

‘What’s Ralph got to do with the house’s gardeners?’

‘He’s – he was – head of estates, so that means he was line manager to the head gardener, Eric Nicholson, who all the other gardeners report to. It’s the same with me in the shop: the head of HR makes all the hirings, but all my volunteers report to me.’

‘Thanks. So what time did you leave Ralph’s office last Thursday?’ Gemma’s pen was poised over her notebook.

‘About five-thirty, I think? I had a whisky or two with him, tried to make him drink some water – and I wanted to be sure he didn’t try to drive home. I’d have taken his car keys, but he wouldn’t let me have them. He did promise not to drive though, so when I saw his car the next morning I assumed … I assumed he’d got a cab home. I didn’t leave the house myself till about nine-fifteen. My twin and I were planning to go for a drink, so I decided to stay late to catch up on some invoicing. So I was in my own office till he – Pete – arrived. He was late, as usual. He was meant to come and meet me at eight-thirty. By then we decided we couldn’t be bothered to drive to the pub, so we just went back to my cottage.’

‘And neither of you saw Ralph again before you left?’

‘No. Only Leonard, the security guard. Everyone else had gone home. I thought they had, anyway.’