‘But you were still friends?’

‘Yeah, when we moved out of our shared home we made a pact that we’d meet up at least once a month. We kept to it at first and then it became more difficult to find a time when we were all free. I have students to supervise and, since she set up in her own business, Eleanor is abroad a lot. Even when she’s home Ian seems to demand all her time. I suppose only Polly has the diligence and determination to make the commitment work. She’s the one to email the rest of us, negotiating times and places to meet. And since Marcus came on the scene even she’s been less organized.’ Caroline paused. ‘That’s why I was pleased that everyone agreed to make the trek north for the hamefarin’. It was a chance for the three of us to spend some time together away from London.’

‘Why do you think Eleanor would want to run away from her husband?’ It was where the conversation had started. Perez wasn’t frustrated by the time it had taken to get back to the question. He had a much better sense now of these women as successful, professional friends.

For the first time Caroline seemed unsure of herself. ‘I have no evidence.’

‘Sometimes I have to pursue an investigation without evidence,’ Perez said. ‘The purpose of my work is to obtain it, but it’s not where we start from.’

‘It seems disloyal speculating like this.’ She frowned.

Perez said nothing.

‘For the past six months Eleanor has been very low. More unhappy than I’ve ever known her.’

‘She’d lost a child,’ Perez said gently. This woman with her strong bones and her clear thinking might not understand how that would feel. He didn’t see Caroline as the most imaginative of women. Or the most maternal.

‘Yes, and Ian hasn’t been any support to her. He stuck her in a private psychiatric place so that she wouldn’t be a nuisance and then he started lecturing her to sort herself out. He lost patience with her.’ She paused again. ‘I think Eleanor might have found comfort elsewhere.’ The words sounded oddly prim, and Perez again had a sense of the schoolgirl she had once been.

‘Another man?’

‘I think so.’ Now Caroline sounded wretched, as if she regretted having started this conversation. ‘But, as I said, I have no real evidence. And Nell didn’t discuss it.’ She paused again. Through the window they saw a very elderly man walk down the road outside. He was dressed in his Sunday best – black trousers, polished shoes and all-over knitted jersey – and was bent over a walking stick. Caroline waited until he’d disappeared from sight before she started talking. ‘I saw her one evening with a guy in a restaurant. I was walking past and although they weren’t sitting in the window I saw her quite clearly. She stood to pick up the scarf that had fallen from her chair. The man had his back to me, so I saw nothing of him except the back of his head. Eleanor reached out and touched his hand on the table. There was a look on her face . . . I don’t know how to describe it. Mixed up. Guilty perhaps.’