She took her jacket from the back of her chair. Departing, she said, “Wouldn’t he be less of a nuisance if you gave him a moderate sum from your father’s estate and put an end to his opportunism? That is, if you feel he has a genuine grievance.”

“It did cross my mind. The difficulty with Robin is he’d always want more. I doubt whether we’d agree on what constitutes a moderate sum.”

Lettie left, closing the door behind her, and Candace turned her attention again to the computer and brought up the figures for November. The west wing was again in profit, but only just. The fees paid covered the general upkeep of the house and gardens as well as the surgical and medical costs, but the income fluctuated and costs were rising. It was certain that the next month’s figures would be disastrous. Chandler-Powell had said nothing, but his face, taut with anxiety and a kind of desperate resolve, told her all. How many patients would care to occupy a room in the west wing with their minds filled with images of death, and—worse—the death of a patient? The clinic, so far from being a money-spinner, was now a financial liability. She gave it less than a month.

Fifteen minutes later Lettie returned. “He’s not there. There’s no sign of him in the cottage or the garden. I found his mobile on the kitchen table among the remains of what could be his lunch or supper, a plate with congealed tomato sauce and a few strands of spaghetti and a plastic packet which had held two chocolate éclairs. The mobile rang as I was opening the door. It was Jeremy Coxon again. I told him we were looking. The bed looked as if it hasn’t been slept in and, as you said, the car’s outside so he obviously hasn’t driven off. He can’t have gone far. He doesn’t sound like someone who goes in for long country walks.”

“No, he isn’t. I suppose we’d better instigate a general search, but God knows where we’ll start. He could be anywhere including, I suppose, comfortably oversleeping in someone else’s bed, in which case he’s hardly likely to welcome a general search. We could give it another hour or so.”

Lettie said, “Is that wise? It looks as if he’s been gone for some time.”