And stuck on the previous page, was a neon Post-it note that read: Should we warn them? in the same handwriting as the note she’d received with her photos. Clementine’s handwriting.

‘Posy? Are you nearly done?’ Ashok’s whisper from the door broke her out of her trance. She slammed the script shut and shoved it into her bag before hurrying out again.

‘No sign of the phones, I’m afraid.’ She hoped her words sounded relaxed, despite the terror racing through her veins. ‘She must have stored them somewhere else.’

‘Damn,’ Ashok said. ‘I really, really need to check my emails.’

‘You and me both.’ She flashed him a conspiratorial grin as they descended the stairs. ‘Hey, could you, like, not mention this to anyone? The whole B&E thing?’

Ashok shrugged. ‘Who’d believe me anyway?’

‘You’d be surprised what people will believe when it comes to me.’

Chapter Eleven

‘I always find that people say the most fascinating things when they believe no one is really listening,’ Dahlia said. ‘And inane dinner party chatter is the perfect example of that.’

Dahlia Lively in Dining with Death

By Lettice Davenport, 1954

Posy and Ashok went their separate ways as they re-entered the library. Pre-dinner drinks were still under way, which hopefully meant she had time to talk to Caro and Rosalind before they went through to the dining room. She needed to trust somebody, and they were in the same boat as her with the blackmail, at least.

‘Posy, darling! You look as though you’ve seen a ghost. Where’s your drink?’ Caro asked.

‘Oh, I don’t have one.’ At her admission, Caro raised an arm and in a second a waiter was beside them with a tray. Caro took a fresh glass for each of them, depositing her empty one on the tray and dismissing the waiter with a nod. Posy twisted to catch him and switch her own glass for an orange juice.

‘What’s the matter?’ Marcus asked from beside Caro. ‘Isobel been pestering you about that damn magnifying glass too?’

‘It hasn’t been found yet, then?’ Posy asked, widening her eyes as if she was as clueless to its whereabouts as everyone else.

‘No sign.’ Marcus shook his head.

‘Hugh is convinced it must have been one of the day visitors,’ Caro explained. ‘Even though none of them were allowed in the house unless Isobel was with them on the house tour.’

‘And Isobel still thinks it was Clementine, of course,’ Marcus added, with a heavy sigh. ‘Which I have to admit is the most likely explanation, much as I hate to say it. She’s already given the police Clementine’s description, and the details of the car.’

‘Tricky,’ Caro said, but the gleam in her eye suggested it was more exciting than distressing.

‘Everyone looks very fine tonight, don’t they?’ Posy said, looking around the library.