‘Exactly. Those vampire fans who suck the fun out of loving anything. Who try to buy up everything connected to a show so they can keep it for themselves, just to show off because they can afford it. Who make the fandom a smaller, more exclusive place to be.’

‘Rather than the open, inclusive place it’s meant to be,’ Posy finished. ‘Yes, they definitely are the worst kind of fans.’

Heather’s face was puce with rage, but she didn’t say anything more. Her lips tightened to a thin line, she whipped Harry around and hurried down the path, leaving the three Dahlias alone.

‘They’re not wrong,’ Caro whispered, once they were out of earshot. ‘I mean, I did steal for Marcus. I did betray the character Lettice created. Maybe I don’t have the right to call myself Dahlia Lively anymore.’

‘You made a mistake,’ Posy said, with a shrug. ‘Hell, we’ve all made those. Me more than most.’

‘And you’re not making it anymore. That’s what matters.’ There was a note of reflection in Rosalind’s voice as she stared towards Aldermere House. Caro wondered what mistakes she was contemplating giving up.

‘Well, if you’re right, then we still have a murder to solve.’

Rosalind’s attention snapped back to them at Caro’s words. ‘Yes, we do. Which means we really need to find Ashok. Wherever he’s hiding.’

They found Ashok interrogating Anton and Kit in the Drawing Room, alongside his partner in crime, Felicity.

‘And you don’t remember anything else?’ Felicity tapped her pen against the page of her notebook, as she waited for Anton’s answer.

‘Anything at all, however small,’ Ashok added.

‘Like Dahlia always said, it’s the little details that others overlook that often matter most.’ Felicity smiled knowingly, probably trying to ape one of Caro’s own Dahlia smiles. Like Dahlia Lively would ever sport blue hair.

Urgh, Caro was starting to sound like Heather and Harry, even in her own head. Was growing more judgemental a side effect of hitting early peri-menopause?

Caro exchanged a look with her real Dahlia sisters, and hoped they understood. Kit and Anton backed away, clearly done with being investigated, and Caro stepped in, keeping her back towards Felicity, to cut her off from Ashok. As she’d hoped, Rosalind and Posy moved to distract her with questions about her notes, leaving Caro to tackle Ashok alone.

Perfect.

‘Conducting a little investigation of your own, huh?’ she said, smiling, as Ashok frowned and glanced around the room, uncertain what had happened. Get used to that feeling, kiddo.

‘We were, uh, asking some important questions.’

‘Right. As it happens, I’ve got a few questions of my own. If you have a minute.’ Without waiting for an answer, she guided him towards the door and into the entrance hall. ‘We could take a little walk.’