‘He said that wasn’t his intention,’ Sasha told him.

‘Oh,’ said Abs sarcastically. ‘Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up, the Silver Lady says he wouldn’t have killed me, so let’s pop the champagne. At the very least, he was going to take me somewhere and torture me, go all Marathon Man on my mouth.’ He gave everyone a good look at his perfect choppers. ‘I paid good money for these.’

‘When Mr Jenkins came here,’ said Bethany, bristling, ‘he was very emotional and I convinced him that Jez knows nothing about the disappearance of that poor girl.’

‘But I do, right?’

‘Will you let me finish?’ Bethany snapped. ‘He was very insistent in his accusations and to smooth the way, to convince him of mine and Jez’s good faith, I gave him money. I had no idea he would come after you next.’

Abs snorted.

‘How much?’ Jez demanded of his wife. ‘What did you give him?’

‘Twenty,’ she said quietly. ‘Twenty thousand.’

Abs whistled. ‘Twenty grand.’

‘It came from my father and what he chooses to do with his money is up to him.’

Abs threw up his arms in anger. ‘You fed me to the wolves.’

‘We’re having a child, my darling,’ Bethany told Jez impatiently. ‘I can’t… I will not… have this kind of stress in my life. I will not have what happened to that girl, God rest her soul, hanging over us for the rest of our lives. I did it for me, for you – for our baby.’

‘You left the restaurant almost immediately after you met Davey Jenkins,’ Sasha said to her. ‘Did you go anywhere else that night where you would have been seen?’

‘I bought petrol from a station on the way home, and picked up a bottle of wine. It’s only ten minutes from here, and I have a receipt.’

‘We can check the CCTV if you give us the name of the station, and can we see that receipt?’

‘I think it’s still in my bag. I’ll get Pauline to bring it.’ Bethany looked in frustration at her watch. ‘We’re going to be late for the party. Mummy and Daddy will be worried.’

‘We won’t keep you much longer.’

As Sasha heaved herself off the sofa, Bethany opened the door to shout for the housekeeper. ‘Pauline, can you bring my bag from the kitchen, please?’ She listened and got no response. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, I’ll get it myself.’

When she left the room, Abs said to Sasha, ‘You don’t think it’s Davey Jenkins, then, who killed Deano?’

‘He has an alibi for the evening,’ she told him. ‘But our investigation is ongoing.’

‘Glad to hear it.’

‘He’s been charged with kidnapping and we’ll be asking him about the money he took from Mrs Weston.’

‘Has Beth committed any crime?’ asked Jez.