'Almost ready for you,' she said to them as a group. 'You've been extremely patient.'
Bob looked at his watch in a pointed manner.
'You're the Parcel Force driver? Are you working nights?'
'Early mornings.'
'It won't take that long. Stella Gregson will see you shortly. Miss Bumstead, you're with DC Shilling. That means you're with me, Mrs Green.'
Naomi followed her like a lamb.
'Is this a voluntary statement?' Dagmar asked DC Shilling.
'You took the words out of my mouth.'
'I work in a solicitor's office, you see.'
Shilling gave a nod. 'We're doing this by the book.'
'If you suspected me of an offence, you'd have to caution me and give me certain advice about my rights. But like the others I'm only here because the chief inspector asked for our help as witnesses.'
No flies on this one. 'That's my understanding, ma'am. You're the romantic novelist, I believe?'
Dagmar flushed deeply. 'I don't know about
'What I mean is that you're the only one in the circle.'
'So far as I'm aware, yes.'
You've written a lot of these — what do they call them? — bodice-rippers.'
'You were right the first time. Romantic novels. Twelve altogether. And now you're about to ask me with a snigger where I get my ideas from.'
'Actually, no.'
She carried on as if he hadn't spoken. 'And I can't and won't answer.'
'I wasn't going to ask,' Shilling said. 'I don't mind betting you get your best ideas at work.'
'Why?'
'Correct me if I'm wrong, but the books you write are all about women who go through a series of misunderstandings with the hell-raiser who in the end turns out to be Mr Right. You must get more than enough inspiration for stories working in a solicitor's office.'
She gave him a stare fit to impale him. 'The solicitors I work with are gentlemen through and through.'
Shilling smiled. 'I meant the clients. All the problems that are brought in, divorce and separation and disputes between neighbours.'
'That's all conjecture on your part.'
Shilling nodded and smiled. 'Let's move quickly on, then. We'll talk about the publisher, Edgar Blacker. Whose idea was it to bring him to the circle?'
'Maurice's.'
'And did everyone agree?'
'Most of them sent in their work for appraisal, so they must have.'
'Nice word, 'appraisal'. Better than criticism.'
'You mean we wanted to hear nice things? I'm sure we did.'
'Coming back to the question: did everyone agree it was a good plan to invite Blacker?'
'I didn't, for one. Maurice is a lovely man, but he doesn't know much about human nature. I could see it would raise unrealistic hopes.'
'Did you tell him?'
'Privately, yes. I was one of the original members, so I felt I had a right to protest.'
'Protest? It was as strong as that?'
'No, it was a civilised discussion. Maurice listened to me and then gave his point of view. He thought it would do us all good to get a professional opinion on our work. He really felt it was for the best. In the end he talked me into sending in my latest, saying it would show Mr Blacker that one of us at least was capable of finishing a novel.'
Listening to this little lady speaking in her earnest tone, with never a hint of a smile, Shilling wondered how she had reacted to being rejected — for what, the twelfth time? — but in the presence of people she regarded as inferior writers. 'And did Blacker appreciate your work?'
'He seemed to think it was all right, but when I pressed him about possible publication, he backtracked fast and said he'd have to show it to someone else.'
'So did you let him keep it?'
'No, and I'm glad I didn't. It would have been lost in the fire.'
'You picked it up at the end?'
'Yes, it was stacked on the table with the others.'
'Did he say any more?'
'He was busy with Tudor. I collected mine and Miss Snow's. She asked me to. She was busy handing out competition leaflets.'
'You must have felt a bit down at the end.'
'I'm used to it. There's no sense in building up your hopes.'
'So with the benefit of hindsight you were right. It was a mistake inviting Blacker to the circle.'
She nodded. 'But he'd still have pulled the rug from under Maurice.'
'Ah, yes.' Shilling gave the smile that said he had a good card to play. 'You were one of the first to know about that, weren't you?'
'What — the fact that he reneged on his agreement to publish?'
'Is that why he was killed, Miss Bumstead?'
Her voice shook a little. 'How would I know? I can't answer that question.'
'Certain people heard how badly he'd treated Maurice the same day it happened, before the fire, and you were one of them. Thomasine O'Loughlin spoke to you about five that afternoon.'
'You're well informed.'
'How did you spend the evening?'
'Doing some ironing and taking a bath. I was too troubled to write. You need to be in the right frame of mind.'
'You did nothing about Blacker?'
'What could I have done?'
'You didn't go out later that night?'
'Of course not.'
'Do you have a theory as to who the arsonist was?'
'If I did I wouldn't divulge it to you. My thoughts on the matter have no relevance whatsoever.'
'I can't agree with that. I'd say you're a shrewd lady.'
'Perhaps that's why I won't be drawn.'
Shilling felt he was losing this one. Two nil down at half-time. 'I want to ask you about Miss Snow. I dare say you feel worse about her death than Blacker's.'
'She was one of us, so I would.'
'One of the founder members?'
'Not quite, but she joined soon after.'
'A valued member?'
'She brought some organisation to our circle. She was a conscientious secretary and a treasurer we could all trust'
'Functions you could have performed, with your experience.'
'Possibly, but rather selfishly I wanted to participate fully in the meetings, not take notes and collect subscriptions. Miss Snow played only a muted part in the discussions.'
'No one disliked her?'
'How would I know that? I'm not a mind-reader. From my point of view there was nothing you could dislike about her.'
'As secretary, did she have any secrets, anything on the members?'
'I doubt it. She knew if anyone owed money, but the dues aren't excessive. We pay two pounds for each
