Kate had been silent throughout. As they walked down the stairs, Dalgliesh said to Benton, “Cope with the photographer and SOCOs, will you, Benton. They can get started after the body has been removed. We’ll take prints later but I’m not hopeful of getting anything significant. Probably any one of the staff here could legitimately have entered the room at some time or other. Kate, will you come with me to the general office. Chandler-Powell should have the name of Rhoda Gradwyn’s next of kin, possibly also her solicitor. Someone will have to break the news, and that will probably be best done by the local police, whoever they are. And we need to know a great deal more about this place, the layout, what staff Chandler-Powell has and when they’re here. Whoever throttled her could have been using surgical gloves. Most people probably know that you can get prints from the inside of latex gloves, so they’ll probably have been destroyed. And the SOCOs need to pay attention to the lift. And now, Kate, we’ll see what Mr. Chandler-Powell has to say to us.”

Chapter 7

7

In the office Chandler-Powell was seated at the desk with two maps spread out before him, one of the house in relation to the village, and a plan of the Manor. He got up as they entered and moved round the desk. Together they bent over the plans.

He said, “The patients’ wing, which you’ve just visited, is here on the west, together with Sister Holland’s bedroom and sitting room. The centre part of the house comprises the entrance hall, the great hall, the library and the dining room, and a flat for the cook and his wife, Dean and Kimberley Bostock, above the kitchen, which overlooks the knot garden. The domestic helper, Sharon Bateman, has a bed-sitting room next to them. My rooms and the flat occupied by Miss Cressett are in the east wing, as is Mrs. Frensham’s sitting room and bedroom, and two guest rooms, now unoccupied. I’ve made a list of the non-resident staff. Apart from the staff you’ve met, I employ an anaesthetist and additional nursing staff for the theatre. Some come in by bus early on operating mornings, others drive. None stay here overnight. A part-time nurse, Ruth Frazer, shared responsibility with Sister Holland until nine-thirty, when she went off duty.”

Dalgliesh asked, “The elderly man who opened the gate for us, is he here full-time?”