‘I fully appreciate how you must feel about it since Mr Slade is a close friend,’ James said, ‘but you must not get involved with our investigation. It’s up to us to determine what did or didn’t happen and whether or not it had a bearing on Miss Elliott’s death. In all likelihood, it’ll prove to be an unnecessary distraction at a time when you should be fully focused on helping your wife to get through this ordeal.’

James braced himself for a sharp retort, but it didn’t come. Instead, Murphy made a thoughtful noise in his throat and his demeanour shifted suddenly.

‘Well, I’ve made my point so I’ll leave it at that,’ he said. ‘But I’m telling you that Mark did not murder Rachel. If, as you believe, it happened between half five and half seven then he couldn’t have because he stayed close to me during those two hours, first in the Garden Room and then in the main hall where he sat at our table. And as far as I can recall, he didn’t wander off at any point.’

‘Then I’m glad you’ve told me,’ James said. ‘It’s useful information and I’ll take it into account.’

‘I trust you won’t waste any more time trying to pin it on Mark then. Instead, you should be putting all your efforts into finding that fucking Italian bloke Rachel was planning to run off with. Surely he’s the one who killed her otherwise you would have heard from him by now.’

‘Rest assured we’re doing all we can to find him, Mr Murphy. And when we do, we’ll get to the bottom of what happened between them.’

‘What about until then? Have you finished up here yet, or do you still think that one of the other guests, or one of my staff, could have been responsible?’

‘It’s too soon to rule anyone out,’ James replied. ‘But we’ve spoken to everyone and taken statements so people are now free to leave the hotel. However, our forensic work will have to continue, as I’m sure you can understand. In the meantime, how is your wife coping?’

‘She’s still struggling so I intend to take her home soon,’ Murphy said. ‘I’ll come back later, but while I’m gone you can liaise with my manager, Karen. She’s agreed to remain on duty for the rest of the day.’

‘That’s good to know, Mr Murphy.’

‘I’ve also asked her to cancel our honeymoon for us. We were due to fly to Dubai on Thursday.’

‘It’s all such a terrible shame,’ James said.

‘I know, and I don’t know how any of us will ever be able to get over it.’

Murphy stole a look at his watch, which prompted James to say, ‘Look, before you go, I’d like to ask you what you know about Douglas Hannigan.’

‘You mean the guy Rachel was engaged to?’

‘Yes.’

Murphy shrugged. ‘I’ve never met him, but I know what he did to her and I read about how he screwed up his own bid to become a local MP. Why is he of interest to you? He wasn’t here yesterday.’