‘Very well,’ he replied, wiping tears from his eyes.

‘And is there anyone you want us to call for you? A relative or a friend?’

He shook his head. ‘Our closest friends and relatives are all here in the hotel. But right now, we would rather be alone.’

The door wasn’t locked so Fraser let himself in and James waited until he’d closed it behind him before going back downstairs.

There was a lot going on in the hotel now and the noise level had increased as uniformed officers went from room to room interviewing guests and asking to view photographs taken on their mobile phones.

James spotted Greg Murphy holding court in the lounge area with a group of staffers, including the hotel manager and the wedding coordinator. To one side of him stood a PC who was making notes of what was being said.

James headed for the security office where DC Abbott was still viewing the surveillance footage, her tongue poking through her teeth in concentration. She was by herself now and she looked exhausted, her eyes glinting from tiredness.

‘Where’s the security guy?’ James asked.

‘Greg called a staff meeting and he was told to attend,’ Abbott replied.

‘Yeah, I saw them in the lounge. So, how is it going?’

‘Nothing new to report, guv. Rachel doesn’t appear on any of the footage after she left the bar.’

‘What about the bearded boyfriend?’

She shook her head. ‘He almost certainly left the hotel after he came down the stairs, and he wasn’t picked up on the one garden camera that is still in working order.’

James rubbed his temples and scowled at the screen.

‘Anything from the video footage shot by the wedding photographer?’

‘DC Hall went to view that on the laptop in the manager’s office,’ Abbott said. ‘I assume he’s still at it.’

James was silent for a minute or so as he tried to marshal his thoughts while looking at moving pictures of the ill-fated wedding. He then filled Abbott in on his conversations with Claire Prescott and Fraser Elliott, and how Denise Elliott had blamed Libby for what had happened.

Abbott’s eyes grew wide. ‘My God, that’s not something I would have expected. Libby must feel awful.’

‘I’m sure she does, and I can’t help feeling sorry for her.’

‘Me too. It seems grossly unfair to hold her even partly responsible just because she decided to marry a man they didn’t approve of. But then, we both know from experience that people deal with grief and trauma in different ways, guv. It can trigger unexpected emotions as well as some unpleasant reactions.’

‘That’s true enough. Anyway, that’s not the only surprise that’s been sprung on me. Did you know that both Libby and Rachel dated Ethan Prescott?’

‘Are you serious?’

He recapped what Fraser had said to him, adding, ‘I don’t see how it could relate in any way to what’s happened here but it does help us to understand why the sisters had such a fractious relationship.’