Heather scowled. ‘But then we saw another copy being sold on an internet auction site. And another through a Dahlia fans social media page.’

‘All sold by Marcus, I take it,’ Caro said. Oh, Marcus. It seemed such a stupid risk to take. What had driven him to it? The same thing that drove him to blackmail, she supposed.

‘Yup,’ Harry said with a nod. ‘So of course, I had to ask him about it. And, after seeing the jeweller’s loupe in her study on the house tour, I had even more doubts.’

‘At least we can confirm that one is fake, if it helps,’ Rosalind said, drily. ‘What did Marcus have to say for himself?’

‘That we had the originals. That there must have been a mix-up. You know what Marcus was like,’ he said, turning to Caro. ‘All charm and promises when you’re with him, but who knows what he said behind our back. But he assured me ours were the real deal, and that he had nothing to do with the copies.’

‘So who did, then?’ Posy asked. ‘You said they were being sold in his name?’

‘He hinted that it might have been his assistant,’ Heather said. ‘That Clementine girl? Branching out on her own initiative, apparently.’ From Heather’s tone, she hadn’t completely believed him.

‘We were going to get our items independently valued after this weekend,’ Harry added. ‘Just to be sure.’

‘If you thought that Marcus was up to something shady, like selling fakes, why not go to the police?’ Posy asked, before answering her own question. ‘Oh, because they might have been stolen in the first place. I see.’

‘Catching on quick,’ Caro murmured to her, with a smile.

‘And that’s all we know.’ Heather pushed up off the bench and moved away. ‘So if you don’t mind, we’re going to get back to enjoying what’s left of this disaster of a convention. Come on, Harry.’

‘One more thing, before we let you return to the jam selection.’ Caro smiled to herself as Heather and Harry obeyed, pausing on the path. ‘Did you see anyone else talking to Marcus? About anything that mattered, I mean.’

Harry frowned thoughtfully. ‘Well, when I went to talk to him in the library, he was busy talking to Ashok, so I had to wait a minute or two. Ashok seemed quite insistent on getting an answer about something or other – I wasn’t close enough to hear what. Then Marcus did his usual thing of talking a lot without saying anything at all, and hurried off to do something else.’

‘Do you know what he was talking to Ashok about?’ Posy asked.