“I can’t feel sorry for either of my victims. Rhoda Gradwyn subverted a genuine talent and caused hurt and distress to vulnerable people, and Robin Boyton was a gadfly, an insignificant, mildly amusing nonentity. I doubt whether either of them will be mourned or missed.

“That’s all I have to say, except to make it plain that at all times I worked entirely alone. I told no one, consulted no one, asked for no one’s help, involved no one else either in the acts or in my subsequent lies. I shall die with no regrets and with no fear. I shall leave this tape where I can be confident that it will be found. Sharon will tell her story and you already suspected the truth. I hope that all goes well with her. For myself, I have no hope and no fear.”

Dalgliesh clicked off the tape player. The three of them leaned back, and Kate found that she was breathing deeply, as if recovering from some ordeal. Then, without speaking, Dalgliesh brought the cafetière to the table and, taking it, Benton filled the three cups and pushed forward the milk and sugar.

Dalgliesh said, “Given what Jeremy Coxon told me last night, how much of that confession do we believe?”

After a moment’s thought it was Kate who answered. “We know she killed Miss Gradwyn; one fact alone proves that. No one at the Manor was told that we had evidence that the latex gloves were cut up and flushed down the lavatory. And that death wasn’t manslaughter. You don’t go to the victim wearing gloves if your object is only to frighten. Then there’s the attack on Sharon. That wasn’t faked. She was intending to kill.”

Dalgliesh said, “Was she? I wonder. She killed both Rhoda Gradwyn and Robin Boyton and she has given us her motive. The question is whether the coroner and the jury, if he chooses to sit with one, will believe it.”

Benton spoke. “Does the motive matter now, sir? I mean, it would if the case came to court. Juries want a motive and so do we. But you’ve always said that physical evidence—hard facts not motive—prove the case. Motives will always remain mysterious. We can’t see into another’s mind. Candace Westhall has given us hers. It may seem inadequate, but a motive for murder always is. I don’t see how we can rebut what she says.”

“I’m not proposing to, Benton, at least not officially. She has made what is essentially a deathbed confession, credible, supported by evidence. My difficulty is in believing it. The case hasn’t exactly been a triumph for us. It’s over now, or will be after the inquest. There are a number of odd things that come to mind about her account of Boyton’s death. Let’s take that part of the tape first.”