‘No.’ She didn’t, but she remembered his name in Alex’s notebook. She had thought it was a girlfriend. She felt overwhelmed by sadness. Florence hadn’t been a girl, just another contact of Griff’s.

‘You can meet James, and hand it over. Wherever you like.’

She looked steadily at her father, and didn’t speak for a moment. Then she said, ‘Did you tell the police about this?’

‘Tell them what?’

‘That there’s money in the hotel.’

‘Why would I tell the police?’

‘Why?’ She walked away and stood with her back to the room.

Dan watched her. He looked from Griff to Bea, waiting. She turned to face her father.

‘Did Alex know?’ she said.

‘Just forget it,’ said Griff, suddenly uncomfortable, regretting having spoken. Dan had never seen him look like that.

‘Did he know?’ she repeated.

‘Of course he did.’

‘What money is it?’

‘For God’s sake, Bea, calm down.’

‘I am calm. Answer me.’

‘It’s just some money. We were clearing some cash out of a defunct company. Tiny company I set up ages ago. Alex used to pop over and get bits of it, when we visited.’

‘Pop over?’

‘To Switzerland.’

‘You sent Alex to Switzerland, to pick up cases of cash?’

‘It’s really not that big a deal.’

‘Did you do this whenever you came? Is that why you went to see him? Was that all it was?’

‘Don’t be silly.’

‘You made Alex go to Switzerland, and bring money back into France? Illegally?’

‘Christ,’ said Griff, ‘you make it sound like gun-running. I’m trying to do you a favour.’

‘Me?’

‘You say you need cash –’

She went to the bar and poured a glass of water from a jug. Dan saw her hands were shaking. He thought of Griff’s boundless possessions. The houses. The villas. The cars. He saw the private jet in his mind, soaring into a blue sky.

‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘you keep euros, in cash, at Paligny? How do you bring it back?’

‘None of your business.’

Bea’s back was still turned to them. She was drinking the water, not looking at either of them, but Dan didn’t need to try, to know what she was thinking.

‘That kind of money is peanuts to you,’ he said.

Griff shrugged. ‘Only people like you think there’s small money and big money. How do you think the big money gets that way?’

‘But it’s illegal to move cash. Why would you do that?’ Dan said.

‘Fun,’ said Bea, still turned away from them both. ‘He does it for fun.’

‘Is that it?’ said Dan. ‘Seriously?’

‘Alex got a kick out of it,’ said Griff.

‘A kick?’

‘We both did.’

‘Yeah, some guys take their sons to the football,’ said Dan. ‘They get lap dances. So that was the “errand”. Did you tell the police you knew where he’d gone?’