‘That’s easy. She doesn’t make the phone call here for the simple reason that the killer is with her. She knows that he’s a danger to her and she becomes upset. She cries. She makes some excuse and goes upstairs to the bedroom. She calls Dr Collins from there. But the killer has followed her and strangles her with the cord.’

‘There were two balls of tissue in the bedroom and only one down here. Does that not suggest to you that she spent more time upstairs than down?’

‘I’m sorry, Mr Pünd. I really don’t see what you’re getting at.’

‘I am only trying to understand what happened here, Detective Chief Inspector. And at the moment it makes no sense to me.’

‘I’m with you there. Nothing in this case makes any sense at all.’

‘Then let us talk to the Chandlers. They were in the house almost until the moment of the crime. And I am sure you are keen to know exactly what it was they discussed while they were together in the kitchen.’

They left the living room and crossed the hallway to the kitchen, where they found Phyllis Chandler and her son sitting at an empty table. For once there were no cakes, no florentines, no signs of any cooking. The Aga was cold; the weekend parties had been cancelled. Francis Pendleton had barely eaten anything since his wife had died. There was nothing to occupy either of the two servants.

‘I never thought it would end like this,’ Phyllis said once they were all sitting around the table. ‘I’ll be sixty-five next year and I was looking forward to my retirement. I don’t know what we’re going to do with ourselves if we lose our positions here. We’ve got nowhere else to go.’

‘You do not think it possible that Mr Pendleton will ask you to stay?’ Pünd asked. He was sitting opposite her with the detective chief inspector next to him.

‘I’m not even sure that he’ll stay himself now that she’s gone. I’ve never met two people who were so inseparable and that’s a fact.’

‘And yet I have heard it suggested that there was at times a certain friction between them?’ Pünd was only repeating what Hare had told him and he, of course, had learned it from the housekeeper. He looked at Phyllis almost apologetically.

She blushed. ‘Well, it’s true they had their run-ins from time to time. That’s true of any married couple. Miss James had a lot on her mind with the hotel and her new film. But Mr Pendleton was devoted to her. He went against the wishes of his family when he married her and none of them ever came here, but that didn’t matter to him. Look at him now! She was his whole world.’

‘Do you know a man by the name of Algernon Marsh?’

‘Yes. I’ve met him.’ Now she was uncomfortable. Pünd waited for her to continue. ‘He often stays with his sister in the village. She’s married to the doctor.’ She fell silent again, then, realising that he wanted more, she added: ‘He came to the house quite a few times and Miss James seemed to have a liking for him. I don’t know why. I don’t want to speak out of turn, but I think she may have been too generous in her feelings for him and you can make of that what you will.’

That was all she was going to say – and it could have meant many things. On the other side of the table, Eric Chandler shifted uncomfortably, avoiding his mother’s gaze.

‘Can you tell me, please, what occurred on the evening when Miss James was attacked? I know that you have already told the detective chief inspector, but I would like to hear it directly from you.’

‘Certainly, sir, although there’s not a lot to tell. Eric and I had the evening off. We were going to visit my sister in Bude. Miss James had kindly said we could take the Bentley, so we were waiting until she got back from the village.’

‘Did she tell you the purpose of her visit?’

‘No. But she said she had a slight headache and wanted an early night. I got changed upstairs … that would have been a little before six. Eric and I have our living accommodation there. After that I came down here to the kitchen and the two of us waited for her to return.’

‘We heard a car, but it wasn’t her,’ Eric added.

‘And when was that?’

He shrugged. ‘About six.’

What Eric had just said corresponded with what Pünd had already heard from Simon Cox. The producer had pulled up outside the house at that time but he had stayed in his car.

‘Miss James arrived a few minutes later,’ Phyllis continued. ‘She went into the house and continued straight upstairs, I think. It’s hard to be sure because my hearing isn’t too good and anyway, the walls in this house are very thick. My son, Eric, can tell you about that.’

Eric looked up briefly from the table but said nothing.

‘What time did you leave the house?’ Pünd asked.

‘It was actually later than I liked. We were visiting my sister, Betty, and we were expected at seven but we didn’t leave until twenty-five past six.’

‘Had you seen Mr Pendleton leave?’

‘No, sir. But he kept his car in the bay on the other side of the house. He would have gone out through the French windows in the living room.’

‘But you informed the police that somebody came to the house after he had gone.’

‘That’s right, sir. The doorbell didn’t ring but we heard Kimba barking, which was a sure sign that there was a stranger here. And then about a minute later the door opened and closed, which proved it.’

‘But you did not go out to see who it was.’

‘We were off duty. We weren’t properly dressed to receive visitors.’

‘It is quite possible, then, that when you left the house, Miss James was alone with this stranger – whoever it was – who had come to the door.’

Mrs Chandler’s cheeks reddened. ‘I don’t know what you’re suggesting, sir. We had no reason to believe that any harm would come to her. Tawleigh is a very quiet place. We don’t even lock the house up at night. Nothing like this has ever happened before.’ She pointed at a door. ‘Eric and I went out the back way. We got into the Bentley and we drove off.’

‘And you heard nothing more before you left? No sound of a struggle? The breaking of a lamp?’

‘We didn’t hear anything, sir. The house was completely quiet.’

The interview seemed to be over. Pünd got to his feet. ‘There is one last thing I must ask you,’ he said. ‘You were arguing with your son just before you left.’ He spoke the words as if they were an afterthought, with no great relevance.

Phyllis Chandler was offended. ‘I don’t believe that’s the case, sir.’

‘You were not discussing the Moonflower Hotel? You do not believe that there is something there that might be described as crooked?’

Eric looked puzzled, but his mother cut in quickly. ‘We may have mentioned the hotel,’ she said. ‘Everyone knows it’s been losing money, and since you ask, Miss James did have her concerns about the way it was being managed.’

‘You’re referring to the Gardners, I believe?’

‘I couldn’t say, sir. It had nothing to do with Eric or with me.’

‘And yet you were angry with your son.’

‘I’m disappointed in my son. If you’d ever known his father, you’d understand why.’

‘Ma! You can’t talk about me like that.’ Eric stood up for himself for the first time.

‘I will talk like that!’ Phyllis glared at him. ‘Every day of your life I’ve been disappointed in you. Your father was a war hero. But what have you done with yourself?’ She folded her arms. ‘I’ve nothing more to say.’

‘I have one last question.’ Pünd examined her closely. ‘Were you afraid of Miss James discovering a truth that you have not revealed to us? Was that what you were discussing in the kitchen that evening?’

Pünd had not repeated the entire accusation that Cox had made. He had claimed that the Chandlers would kill Melissa James if she found out.

Phyllis Chandler rounded on him. ‘It’s wicked how people are always spying on each other. Yes. Eric and I did have a few words, but it was nothing important. It takes it out of you running a house like this, and do you think we get any pleasure in working together? Maybe we argued. But everyone argues. And if someone was eavesdropping, they should come here and confront us themselves rather than acting like a coward and going behind our backs.’

‘I am sorry, Mrs Chandler. But it is my job to understand every last detail.’

‘Well, it’s completely irrelevant.’ She drew a breath. ‘Eric hasn’t been pulling his weight. That’s all. I felt it necessary to have a few words and so I did.’

‘Very well, Mrs Chandler. We will say no more.’

Atticus Pünd smiled as if to reassure the woman that there was nothing to worry about, then he and the detective chief inspector left the kitchen and went back into the hall.

Miss Cain was waiting for them, sitting in a chair. ‘I’m so sorry, Mr Pünd,’ she exclaimed.

‘I hope you have recovered, Miss Cain.’

‘Yes, sir. I just took a turn around the garden.’ She tried to smile but it was clear she was still shaken.

‘Do you wish to return to the hotel?’

‘No, sir. I’d like to stay with you.’ There was a pinch of anger in her cheeks. ‘It was such a wicked thing to do. I want to find out who was responsible.’

‘I hope I will not disappoint you,’ Pünd said.