‘Yes, well, that wouldn’t have been hard to find out, would it?’ Suzie said. ‘I mean, we found out about Danny’s Tuesday nights in Nottingham the very first time we talked to him. Didn’t we?’

‘You’re right,’ Judith said. ‘He couldn’t wait to tell us. He was that proud.’

‘So what have we got?’ Becks said, taking control of the conversation. ‘We know Iqbal believed Andy Bishop stole his inheritance. And Iqbal ended up dead. And although we don’t know what links Andy to Stefan, Stefan was a bit of a crook, wasn’t he? And Andy’s definitely a bit of a crook. So maybe that’s what links them? They’re crooks working together. Either way, Andy knows that Stefan was killed by an antique gun, and that could only be known by the killer, couldn’t it? If it’s true. And now his diary tells us that he had time to kill Liz before getting into his office this morning.’

As Becks spoke, Judith pulled her phone out of her handbag and made a call.

‘Judith,’ Tanika answered.

‘Just a quickie,’ Judith said, as though she were ringing on a matter no more urgent than an upcoming whist drive. ‘Would I be right in saying that our killer’s been using an antique pistol for the murders?’

There was a charged silence on the other end of the line.

‘How on earth do you know that?’ Tanika asked.

‘Well, that’s a very interesting development, thank you,’ Judith said, and hung up.

‘That confirms it,’ she said. ‘It’s like Andy told Becks. The killer used an antique pistol.’

The three women looked at each other.

Was Andy Bishop the killer?

Judith’s phone started ringing, and Judith looked at it in surprise. How could it be ringing when no one was calling her?

With a start, Suzie realised it was her phone and she pulled it out of her back pocket.

‘Sorry about this,’ she said as she looked at the screen. ‘It’s an old client of mine. Hello, Brenda,’ she said into the phone as she answered the call. ‘How are you?’

Suzie listened for a few moments and then said, ‘No way!’

She listened for a while longer, her eyes alight with excitement.

‘Okay, we’ll be over in five minutes. And thanks, Brenda, you’re a star.’

Suzie hung up the phone and turned to her friends.

‘That was Brenda McFarlane.’

‘Who’s Brenda McFarlane?’ Judith asked.

‘She used to be one of my clients. Had a cocker spaniel called Monty. Anyway, the point is, Brenda lives next door to Elliot Howard, so I asked her to keep an eye on him.’

‘You did?’ Judith asked.

‘Remember? When you first told me about him, I said I’d find someone to keep him under surveillance.’

‘And she has?’

‘Brenda’s a good sort. You can rely on her.’

‘But why’s she rung you now?’