‘A severe blow to the back of her head. Not enough to fracture the skull, but it would have given her concussion. There’s a substantial bump – you can feel it but not see it through her hair. Otherwise general bruises, scratches, defence wounds. We also have his DNA from skin scrapings beneath her fingernails. And his blood in her mouth.’

‘Good girl,’ Connie smiled.

‘Good girl indeed. Sequence of events?’

‘She’s in bed, maybe asleep, maybe not yet, but he doesn’t disturb her when he enters. Husband’s off the hook, right?’

‘Airtight alibi. He was away with the children for the weekend,’ Ailsa explained.

‘Figures. Chloroform deaths are almost inevitably unrelated assailant crimes. He goes for it, puts the chloroform over her mouth, she fights back. Reverse headbutt, injures his nose. Which part of him does she bite?’

‘Now that I can help with. A section of inner finger, probably middle, just a few millimetres long and a few wide, was recovered from the carpet.’

‘He passed out on top of her,’ Connie said. ‘He had the chloroform over her mouth and he just passed out. How long before she was found?’

‘The next morning. One of her young children ran into her bedroom and found her.’

‘Holy shit. That’s thirty years of therapy, right there.’

Ailsa pursed her lips and Connie made a mental note to cut out the expletives.

‘Just one DNA source at the crime scene?’ Connie asked.

‘Just one,’ Ailsa confirmed.

‘With Elspeth Dunwoody we have a complex set-up with ransom decoys and solid organisation. Angela’s murderer made no attempt to conceal his forensic identity. He attacked her in bed knowing that if anything went wrong, he’d leave a trail. Oh, hell …’

Connie returned to the computer, found a search engine and typed frantically. She scrolled through clip after clip of Elspeth Dunwoody at various events, listening to her voice recordings wherever she found them. Finally, she replayed footage from a charity ball, twice, three times. Ailsa Lambert peered over her shoulder and they watched it together.

‘So we join with the other foundations here tonight to fight malaria, to ensure safe systems for both avoiding the disease and treating it. I’d like to ask you all to please help. No contribution is too small …’ Elspeth’s voice lingered over the crucial words, her throat cracking with emotion.

Connie played the relevant words one last time.

‘Please help.’

Baarda appeared in the doorway.

‘The people who demanded the ransom don’t have her,’ Connie said. ‘Elspeth’s voice recording was taken from old footage and played back. It was clever.’

‘Clever or not, if the ransomers don’t have her, then who does?’ he asked.

Chapter Six