When he came off the phone, he took a moment to organise his thoughts and update his notes. He had no choice but to leave it to his team to carry out the majority of the interviews with guests and staff. This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill case with only a handful of people needing to be questioned. The murder of Rachel Elliott had been committed at a hotel that happened to be full and so everyone had to be spoken to.

But this was a task fraught with difficulties because Rachel’s family and friends were struggling to deal with the grief and shock while having to answer questions about what they saw or didn’t see during the wedding. Guests and staff alike would also inevitably become impatient sooner rather than later and eager to depart the scene of the crime.

It was all very stressful for everyone and unlikely to get easier any time soon.

The next item on James’s to-do list was a visit to the home Rachel shared with her parents as he wanted to be among the first to search her room in the hope it would contain valuable information about Carlo Salvi.

Despite what they now knew about Mark Slade, the Italian remained their prime suspect. Who was he and where had he gone? Was he proving hard to trace because he didn’t live in the country? Was it possible that he was already on his way back to Italy?

James decided to go and tell Fraser and Denise Elliott that he was ready to travel to their home in Bowness and that they were welcome to go with him or they could give him the keys and remain here at the hotel.

But on his way back up the stairs, he decided to go to the bridal suite first. He wanted to find out if Libby was okay and at the same time ask her how much she knew about her husband’s best man.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The officer outside the bridal suite informed James that Libby was no longer alone. She’d called Claire Prescott’s room and asked her former nanny to come and be with her.

‘Has her husband or anyone else paid a visit since I was last here?’ James asked.

‘The hotel manager popped up to see if she needed anything,’ the officer said. ‘Mrs Murphy came to the door and said she didn’t. She also told the manager to tell Mr Murphy that she was fine and that there was no need for him to hurry back.’

When James rang the bell, it was Claire who answered. Her face was still lined with emotion and fatigue, and when she spoke her voice was scratchy.

‘Hello again, Inspector,’ she said. ‘I came to help comfort Libby. I gather you were in the room when her mum lost it with her?’

James nodded. ‘How is she now?’

‘Come in and see for yourself. I’ve at least managed to get her to change out of her dress.’