He made no apology for the question, which was almost brutally explicit. Lettie hoped that Candace would keep her temper. She confined herself to a quiet “No” and, looking into Dalgliesh’s eyes, thought that she had been believed.

Candace was silent for a moment while Dalgliesh waited. “Obviously not or we would have looked into the freezer immediately. We were looking for a living man, not a dead body. Personally I thought that Robin would turn up soon enough, but his absence was puzzling since he isn’t given to country walks and I suppose we were looking for a clue to explain where he might have gone.”

“Which of you opened the freezer?”

Lettie said, “I did. The old pantry, the room next door, was the last place we searched. Candace had gone into the walk-in larder and I lifted the freezer lid on impulse, almost without thinking. We’d looked in all the cupboards in Rose Cottage and in here and in the garden sheds and I suppose looking in the freezer seemed a natural action.”

Dalgliesh didn’t speak. Lettie thought, Is he going to point out that a search which included cupboards and a freezer was hardly a search for a living man? But she had given her explanation. She wasn’t sure that it sounded convincing even to her own ears, but it was the truth and she had nothing to add. It was Candace who attempted to explain.

“It never occurred to me that Robin might be dead and neither of us ever mentioned that possibility. I took the initiative and once we’d begun to peer in cupboards and were making a thorough search, I suppose, as Lettie has said, it seemed natural to carry on. I may have had the possibility of an accident at the back of my mind but the word wasn’t mentioned between us.”

Dalgliesh and Inspector Miskin got to their feet. Dalgliesh said, “Thank you both. You need to get out of here. I won’t trouble you any further for now.” He turned to Candace. “I’m afraid, for the present, and probably for some days, Stone Cottage will have to be closed.”

Candace said, “As a crime scene?”

“As a scene of an unexplained death. Mr. Chandler-Powell tells me that there are rooms for you and your brother at the Manor. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I’m sure you’ll understand the necessity. There will also be a forensic pathologist and technical officers coming here but care will be taken not to cause damage.”

Candace said, “You can pull the place apart for all I care. I’ve finished with it.”

He went on as if he hadn’t heard. “Inspector Miskin will go with you to collect what you need to take to the Manor.”