Page 79 of Marble Hall Murders

‘I don’t know where she got this,’ Harry protested. ‘I can’t even remember when it was taken.’

‘Perhaps it would be more helpful, Mr Lyttleton, to explain to us why Miss Carling would have been carrying it with her and why she should have chosen, it would seem, to have marked it with an impression of her lips.’

‘You’d have to ask her that.’ Harry ran a hand through his hair, sweeping it out of his eyes. ‘Of course, you can’t. That was stupid of me.’ He took a moment to compose himself. ‘I barely spoke to Miss Carling. If you’re suggesting, because of this photograph, that she had certain feelings for me, all I can say is that I wasn’t remotely aware of them.’

‘And yet Miss Carling had informed us that she was engaged to be married.’ Pünd had taken over the interrogation. ‘Does the name Charles Saint-Pierre mean anything to you?’

‘I’ve never heard it before. And how could I possibly havebeen engaged to her? Judith and I have been together for seventeen years.’

‘Eighteen years,’ Judith said.

‘It may well be that the young woman was a fantasist. But it is undoubtedly the case that she believed herself to be in a relationship with a man whose identity she attempted to conceal. She had informed Monsieur Lambert that she was soon to leave his employment. It seems very likely that her supposed fiancé picked her up in his car on the last day of her life and drove her to the place where she was later found dead.’

‘Do you have a car?’ Voltaire asked.

‘I drive a Renault 4CV.’

‘What colour?’

‘Blue.’

‘We will also need the registration number.’

‘Wait a minute,’ Judith cut in. ‘You’re saying that my husband picked this woman up in her village. What time was it?’

‘We believe that it was some time after three o’clock on Sunday afternoon.’

‘Well, that’s impossible.’ Judith’s face was flushed with a mixture of relief and indignation. ‘Harry was here with me.’

‘We have only your word for that, Madame Lyttleton.’

‘Are you calling me a liar, Mr Voltaire? We had lunch with Jeffrey and Lola and then we sat and read in the garden. You could talk to Cedric, although he may not have much idea of the time. He was swimming and then he lay on the grass with his comic. I even spoke to him briefly.’

‘How long were you there?’ Pünd asked.

‘Judith was giving a talk at the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste just down the road,’ Harry Lyttleton explained. ‘She spoke for ninety minutes about the Quechua and Aymara cultures …’

‘In French?’

‘I do speak fluent French, Monsieur Voltaire, as well as Peruvian Spanish and ancient Greek. But the audience was entirely English and American.’

‘The talk started at five o’clock,’ Harry Lyttleton continued. ‘Afterwards, we had supper at the Royal Riviera. We got home at about nine.’

‘I’m sure a great many people saw us,’ Judith added. There was acid in her voice. ‘In fact, now I think of it, the Frobishers were there. Lance and Lettie. We spoke to them as we arrived.’

‘Can you also tell us about your movements on the day Lady Chalfont died?’ Voltaire weighed in. If he was disappointed by the fortuitous appearance of Lance and Lettie Frobisher, he was careful not to show it. ‘I would like to know in particular where you were at midday.’

‘I was in Nice,’ Harry replied.

‘For what purpose?’

‘Is it really any of your business?’

Now Voltaire was angry. ‘This is a police investigation into not one but two murders, Monsieur Lyttleton. You should know that we have been taking an interest in you for some time. You are involved with several people who might call themselves businessmen but whose businesses encompass only fraud, money-laundering and embezzlement. It isremarkable that you have not been arrested yet, but I would advise you that if you do not give me straight answers to my questions, this is something that could rapidly change.’

Harry Lyttleton blinked rapidly. ‘It’s my wife’s birthday in two weeks’ time. I went into Nice to buy her a present.’

‘And did you?’

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