This wasn’t what Judith wanted to hear. First there were the online comments that Elliot was a good person and now Fred was saying the same thing.

‘Was this when you were chairman of the auction house?’ Suzie asked.

‘That’s right. You know about that?’

‘We saw it on the website.’

‘I’m on their website? That’s something, isn’t it?’

‘It sure is,’ Suzie agreed, and she could sense that Fred wanted to settle down to a good chinwag. ‘Bet it’s an interesting story. How you ended up working in an auction house.’

‘You can say that again. I was sixteen when I joined. About a hundred years ago now, but that was under Elliot’s dad, Dudley.’

‘Yes, what was he like?’ Judith asked.

Fred looked guarded.

‘Why do you ask?’

‘Only we’ve done some digging and we’ve heard he was something of a crook. Was he?’

‘You’re not wrong there. He was a piece of work, I can tell you. Always doing deals on the side or using stooges to push prices up in the auctions. If there was a sharp practice, he’d do it. And he didn’t like his son, not one bit.’

‘He didn’t?’

‘No way. Elliot’s big thing was rowing when he was a teenager.’

Judith remembered the photos in Elliot’s study of him in various rowing teams.

‘And he was good. But his dad wouldn’t have any of it. The way Elliot told it, Dudley spoke to his rowing coach to find out if Elliot could go professional, and as soon as he said he couldn’t, that was it for him as far as he was concerned. He wouldn’t pay for any more coaching. Wouldn’t take his son to any of the training sessions or regattas. It was over.’

‘That’s harsh,’ Suzie said.

‘Dudley was a harsh man.’

‘Where was Elliot’s mother in all of this?’ Judith asked.

‘I think she left Dudley when Elliot was young. I don’t know the story, but Elliot was raised by his dad on his own. That’s why it was so bad for Elliot when Dudley said it was over for his rowing. He was his only parent, so his word was gospel.’

‘Hang on a moment!’ Judith interjected, an idea flashing in her mind. But what was it? There was a connection that her brain had just tried to make. Something to do with rowing. But what could it be? What was the thought that she’d nearly had, but couldn’t quite chase down?

‘Rowing,’ she said out loud, as though tasting the word, trying to let the sound of it help her thoughts coalesce.

‘What about rowing?’ Suzie asked.

Judith tried to recapture the moment, but the gossamer-thin idea had already dissipated.