‘Oh.’ She looks around and her hand reaches out for the pencil on the table. My heart stops. Her diary. What will she have written in that and where has she put it?

‘Yes, I am. Tell me about what you remember about Saturday.’

‘I woke up,’ she says.

‘Good. And?’ He takes a breath then leans back into the chair.

‘I had some porridge.’

I smother a smile.

‘Then I practised the piano until Daddy . . .’ She stops.

‘Until your father what?’

She swallows, and I just want to wrap her in my arms.

‘He came to the drawing room and asked me to play more quietly.’

‘I see. Then what else do you remember?’

‘I had toast and asked Daddy about a goat in the newspaper.’

The detective frowns.

‘There was an article in The Times,’ I say. Typical of Diana to remember the goat story.

He clears his throat. ‘Then?’

‘We went sailing.’ She frowns.

‘Was everything fine?’

She wrinkles her nose. ‘No.’

My stomach tightens.

‘Can you tell me what wasn’t right?’

Diana’s knuckles go white. I hope the chief inspector doesn’t notice. What had she seen on the boat?

‘Something bothered you?’

I watch the emotions play across her face.

‘OK, let’s leave the boat trip. Can you tell us about the evening?’

‘It was Daddy’s birthday.’ A smile hovers on her mouth.

‘And?’

‘We sang “Happy Birthday” and had cake.’

Where was the book she’d made for him? I hadn’t seen it since she brought it to her room. My stomach sinks. There is a picture in there.

‘You were happy?’ he asks.

She nods.

‘Then you went to bed?’ He looks at me.

Again, she nods.

‘Do you know what time that was?’ he asks.

‘Ten thirty, I think.’ She looks towards the door and the clock chimes the half hour.

‘Did you go to sleep?’ He raises an eyebrow.

Diana looks to me and I smile encouragement.

‘No, I was reading.’

‘Couldn’t you fall asleep?

‘No, it was noisy.’ She crosses her ankles, looking down.

‘How so?’

‘Music, laughter, singing.’

‘I see.’ He taps his fingers on the arm of his chair. ‘How late did you stay awake?

She shrugs. ‘Mummy came up.’

He turns to me. I had told him that I’d checked on Diana and had found her awake. ‘And what did you do?’

Again, Diana glances at me and this time I reach out and take her hand giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘She told me I could read another five pages then I had to put my book away.’

He pulls a cigarette case from his jacket and holds it out to me. I mouth no. I would kill for one but now is not the time. He lights one for himself and I push the ashtray towards him. ‘And did you see your father again?’