Jazz stood up, smiled and reached out her hand for Rory to shake. He took her hand in his and she felt the iciness of his palm against her skin.

‘Hello, Rory. It’s good to meet you at last.’

‘Thank you.’ Rory sat down on the sofa opposite her.

‘Mrs Millar, you couldn’t by any chance find me a cup of coffee, could you? It’s been a long morning and I’m desperate.’ Jazz wanted Rory alone, if only for a few minutes.

‘How rude of me not to offer. Of course. Will you be all right, Rory?’ Angelina asked anxiously.

‘Yes, Mother, I’ll be fine.

Rory’s voice had not broken yet. It had a strange, reedy quality to it.

‘So, Rory, all this must have been a bit of an adventure. Did you realise your mother would be frantic when you disappeared?’

‘No. At the time I was only thinking of myself. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.’

He spoke slowly, precisely, in a quaint, old-fashioned manner.

‘Rory, you went voluntarily to your father’s house on Sunday, didn’t you? Your dad didn’t come to the school and take you by force?’

‘Oh no. I ran away. Poor old Dad. I’ve got him into terrible trouble. All we wanted to do was to go on a little holiday together. He was trying to do something nice for me.’

‘So why did you run away from school, Rory?’

‘Because I wanted to see my dad.’

‘No other reason?’

‘No.’

‘Rory, you were there when your father handed himself over to the police in Windermere and said he killed Charlie Cavendish. Do you think he did?’

Rory shrugged. ‘Why would he say he did if he didn’t? He must have done, I suppose.’

‘And can you think of any reason why your dad would want to kill Charlie?’

Rory shrugged again. ‘Perhaps.’

‘Was Charlie a bully?’

‘Yes.’

‘And did he bully you?’

‘Yes, but Charlie bullies . . . I mean, bullied everyone.’

‘Did you tell your dad on the telephone that Charlie locked you in the trunk cellar one night?’

Rory’s eyes searched around the room. ‘I might have done.’

‘Surely you can remember whether you did or you didn’t?’

‘Yes, I did tell my dad I was locked in the cellar, but I didn’t know it was Charlie who’d locked me in. How could I know? I just heard the key turn.’

Jazz knew she was running out of coffee-making time and had to cut to the chase. ‘Rory, where were you the night that Charlie Cavendish died?’

‘I had a choir concert in the chapel and then I came back to the house and had cocoa.’

‘Was it Mr Daneman who made it for you? I know that Mr Frederiks was out that night.’

For the first time, an expression of fear crossed Rory’s impassive face. His hands clenched. ‘Yes.’

‘And then you went straight to bed?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you didn’t see Charlie that night, or go anywhere near his room?’