“It’s everything you know already. Blundy’s airways were blocked by a combination of the knife and the tape. He suffocated, after first being knocked out with the knife sharpener. The knife was sharpened at the scene. No identifiable fingerprints in the room apart from Blundy’s and his wife’s. Some unknown prints too, but you’d expect that.”

“So tell me again who’s alibied for sure: Rabbi Fedder, Nicki Clements . . . ?”

“Doormat and Despot,” said Charlie.

“So that leaves Keiran Holland, Bryn Gilligan and Melissa Redgate without a decent alibi.”

“And Hannah Blundy.”

“Maybe Reuben Tasker too, depending on what he’s telling Gibbs now.”

“What about Paula Riddiough?” Charlie asked.

“She was with friends. I’ve no doubt her alibi’ll be watertight, whether she murdered Damon Blundy or not.”

Charlie smiled to herself. “You’ve met her, then?”

“I’m outside her house now, in Buffler’s Holt.”

“That sounds like an arcane sexual practice.”

“Paula Riddiough denies she was having an affair with Damon Blundy,” said Simon. “She’s lying.”

“How do you know?”

“The elevens thing. The fact that he chose to make it his password.”

“I’m not sure that alone—”

“I am,” Simon cut her off.

Charlie wasn’t in the mood to be trampled underfoot. “And I’m sure you’re wrong, unless Blundy had two bits on the side,” she said. “I think Nicki Clements was the one having the affair with him, and I’ve got solid reasons for thinking so. All you’ve got is a meeting arranged at an aren’t-we-clever time of day.”

“Let’s hear it, then,” said Simon.

“The tit photo Nicki Clements was taking when Meakin snuck up on her was to send to a man she’d met online, on Intimate Links—a man called Gavin. She told me she answered his ad in February. Also in February, she suddenly stopped commenting on Damon Blundy’s columns. I think that’s when they broke up. She went looking online for a new lover and found this Gavin person. And before you say that’s pure speculation—yes, I know it is, and that’s why I did a bit of digging around, to put my theory to the test. I dug up some interesting facts. Nicki and her family moved from London to Spilling in December last year. Damon Blundy made the same move on November 5, 2011—”

“That’s only six days before November 11, 2011,” Simon interrupted. “So Blundy traveled from Spilling back to London for his meeting with Paula Riddiough, six days after moving in the opposite direction. Would he do that if he weren’t having an affair with her?”

“Simon.” Charlie laughed. “Spilling’s an hour and a half from London by train. Of course he’d nip in for a meeting if there was someone he needed to meet, whether he was screwing them or not.”