Dalgliesh again identified himself and expressed his sympathy as gently as possible, knowing that she had already received news which no gentleness could soften. He was met by an initial silence. And then, in a voice as insensate as if he had been conveying an unwelcome invitation to tea, she said, “It’s good of you to phone, but we do know. The young lady from the local police has been to break the news. She said that someone from the Dorset police had phoned her. She left at ten o’clock. She was very kind. We had a cup of tea together, but she didn’t tell me much. Just that Rhoda had been found dead and that it wasn’t a natural death. I still can’t believe it. I mean, who would want to harm Rhoda? I asked what had happened and if the police knew who was responsible, but she said that she wasn’t able to answer questions like that, because another force was in charge, and that you’d be in touch. She’d only come to break the news. Still, it was kind of her.”

Dalgliesh asked, “Had your daughter any enemies you were aware of, Mrs. Brown? Anyone who might have wished her harm?”

And now he could hear the clear note of resentment. “Well, she must’ve had, mustn’t she, or she wouldn’t have been murdered. She was in a private clinic. Rhoda didn’t do things on the cheap. So why didn’t they look after her? The clinic must have been very careless, letting a patient get murdered. She had so much to look forward to. Rhoda was very successful. She was always clever, just like her dad.”

“Did she tell you that she was having her scar removed at the Cheverell Manor clinic?”

“She told me she was planning to get rid of the scar but not where she was going or when. She was very private, Rhoda. She was like that as a child, keeping her secrets, not telling anyone what she thought. We didn’t see much of each other after she left home, but she did come to my wedding down here in May, and she told me then about getting rid of the scar. Of course, she should have had something done about it years ago. She’s had it for over thirty years. It was caused by knocking her face against the kitchen door when she was thirteen.”

“So you can’t tell us very much about her friends, her private life?”