The Killing Of Polly Carter. Robert Thorogood

according to her husband, Alain.’

      ‘And she could be hyper one minute and depressed the next,’ Camille added. ‘According to Max, her agent.’

      ‘And way too trusting, according to her good friend, Phil.’

      ‘She just sounds like your typical self-centred celebrity,’ Dwayne summed up for them all.

      Richard looked at Dwayne in mock surprise. ‘You know about the world of celebrities, do you, Dwayne?’

      ‘I know it’s not healthy,’ Dwayne said. ‘And if Polly’s been famous since her early twenties, she’s going to have a pretty warped view of the world, I can tell you that much, Chief.’

      ‘Very well. So that’s our victim. And this morning, she went for a walk with her sister, Claire.’

      ‘Even though this was the first time she’d been out for a walk with her sister on her own,’ Camille offered.

      ‘Quite so,’ Richard agreed. ‘And, according to Claire, once they were in the garden, Polly started losing her temper with her. And then—again, according to Claire—Polly took Claire to the top of the cliffs and threatened to kill herself before then going down some of the steps and throwing herself to her death. However, the wooden branch we later found covered in blood at the scene suggests that that’s not quite what happened. In fact, what the branch suggests is that someone was already waiting on the steps before Polly had arrived.’

      ‘The man in the yellow raincoat,’ Dwayne offered.

      ‘Precisely,’ Richard agreed. ‘But whoever this person was, they attacked Polly with the branch, knocked her to her death, and then hid the branch before making their escape. Somehow. But the point is, we already know from the anonymous letters that there’s already one person out there who wanted Polly Carter dead, so I want background checks run on Polly Carter and everyone who was up at the house. Who benefits from her murder? Who’d want her dead? I also want us chasing the autopsy on her body. If she was attacked by someone wielding that branch, I bet there’ll be further evidence on her body.’

      ‘And there are your questions from earlier,’ Fidel offered.

      ‘Indeed, but I think I’ve got a slightly different set of four questions now,’ Richard said, turning back to the board and writing up a list in his neat handwriting.

      Once he’d done so, he stepped away from the board so his team could see what he’d written.

       The Key Questions

       1. How did the killer know to be on the cliff at that precise moment?

       2. How did the killer vanish into thin air afterwards?

       3. Why was Claire’s mobile phone found in a chandelier?

       4. Who sent the anonymous letters?

      ‘And you know what?’ Richard said, putting the lid back on his whiteboard marker with a satisfying pop. ‘I think that if we can answer those four questions, we’ll stand a good chance of identifying who killed Polly Carter, knowing just why she had to die, and—above all else—just how the killer escaped afterwards without being seen. Now then, team, let’s get to work.’