Ashok glanced over his shoulder, but Felicity was preoccupied with the book Posy had handed her, pointing out something of note. ‘I guess.’

Outside, the August sun warmed the paths that wound around Aldermere Hall, although there were darker clouds on the horizon. Well into its second day, the convention felt established, and Caro found it hard to imagine the gardens and lawns without the white marquees, stalls and crowds. Overhead, a Spitfire rumbled past – a visitor from the local air museum, according to the convention timetable – swooping low and causing people to stop in their tracks, shading their eyes as they stared into the skies.

‘You said you had questions?’ Ashok shoved his hands in the pockets of his cord trousers. ‘What about?’

‘Mostly about you.’ Caro looped her hand through his arm, as if they were out for a jolly walk together. Just like Dahlia would have done. And then she levelled with him. ‘Here’s the thing, Ashok. You don’t make sense here.’

‘Because I’m not a white, middle-aged, pureblood Brit?’ Caro was disappointed to hear resignation in his voice, rather than anger.

‘No,’ she said, firmly. ‘Never that. Dahlia is for everybody.’

‘Then what?’ He sounded genuinely confused and, for a second, Caro began to doubt her deductions.

Then she remembered that she was Dahlia Lively – for this weekend, at least – and there was no room for doubt when it came to murder.

‘You admit you’d never read the books until this year, you had no connections with anyone at the convention, and yet you paid what I believe was a significant sum of money to get a place as a VIP delegate.’

Ashok shrugged. ‘I’ve always been an all or nothing sort of person. When I find a new interest I become obsessive for a while. I’ve learned to roll with it and enjoy the experience.’

‘And then, once you arrived at Aldermere, you started asking questions,’ Caro went on. ‘You were seen quizzing Marcus about something before his death, and racing out to ask Clementine questions at lunchtime, too.’

‘There’s a lot to learn, as a new fan, and Marcus and Clementine were the ones in charge. Of course I went to them.’ Ashok stood back as a fan approached, asking shyly if Caro would have a photo taken with her. ‘Let me take that for you,’ Ashok said, with a smile.

That was the worst of it, Caro decided. Ashok seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Young, inquisitive, enthusiastic … and hiding something. If it wasn’t for that last bit, she was pretty sure they could have got along nicely this weekend.

The fan moved on, and Caro went for the kill. ‘And then there’s the way you were hanging around outside Clementine’s door the first night, even though we’d seen her leave that afternoon.’