‘Could you look up the name Elliot Howard?’

‘You think he might be the man who was in here?’

‘It’s a possibility. But let’s see if we can find a picture of him online.’

‘Okay,’ Antonia said, going over to her desk and firing up the browser on her computer. She typed ‘Elliot Howard’ into the search field.

‘That’s the one,’ Judith said, pointing at the top hit.

Antonia clicked the link that opened the website for the Marlow Auction House. Next she found a ‘Who we are’ tab on the home page, and they were soon looking at the names and photos of the key members of staff.

The very first image was of a handsome man in his late fifties with silver hair that swept down to his shoulders. The caption said that his name was Elliot Howard and that he was chairman of the Marlow Auction House.

‘That’s him!’ Antonia said in surprise. ‘That’s the man who was here last Monday.’

Judith bent down to the screen so she could better see the photo.

‘Got you!’ she whispered to the man on the screen.

Chapter 5

A few minutes after her meeting with Antonia, Judith found herself leaning her bicycle against the wall of the Marlow Auction House, a creaking timber-framed building that always reminded her of the old barns she’d played in as a girl growing up on her parents’ farm on the Isle of Wight: full of cobwebs, creaky floorboards, and damp hay bales that smelled of must.

As she straightened her cape on her shoulders, Judith realised that she didn’t have any specific plan for what she should do next. All she knew was that she had to see Elliot Howard. She wanted to see the cut of his jib.

As for the wisdom of approaching a man she thought might be a murderer, she decided to ignore any such concerns. After all, she’d never met the man before, so what on earth was stopping her from visiting his place of work? She could pretend she was interested in selling a painting. Or some other ruse. Something would occur to her.

As Judith entered the building, she saw a woman sitting at a desk working at a computer. She was in her fifties, with dark wavy hair, bright red lipstick and smiley eyes.

‘Good morning, and how can I help you?’ the woman said in a friendly Irish accent.

‘Good morning,’ Judith asked brightly. ‘Are you open?’

‘I’m sorry but we don’t have any viewings until tomorrow.’

‘You don’t?’