‘None of this was because of me, you know,' he said.

‘I know. I'm sorry, Ben.'

‘I'm off the enquiry anyway. They don't need me now.’

Helen laid a hand on his arm, sensing his pain. 'I'm really worried about Granddad now. I think he's planning something. That's why he's kept out of the way ever since he came back from the police station. Because he's worried I might be able to tell what he's thinking; he knows that I can understand him. We're too close, you see. I think that's the reason he's been behaving so strangely. He's trying to keep me and Grandma at arm's-length, so we can't guess what he's up to. But he's certainly up to something. Can you help us, Ben?'

‘Hasn't he said anything to you at all?'

‘There was just one thing he said, when he first came back. It worried me even more. He said, "It was meant for Vernon."‘

The sound of the phone was loud and jarring in the little cottage. Gwen jumped with alarm, but stayed in her chair, gripping the arms, her eyes turning pleadingly towards Helen. Her granddaughter went to answer it, and Cooper watched Helen's face change as she listened, turning pale under her tan. It was obvious there was more bad news.

Helen turned slowly back to Gwen and Cooper as she replaced the phone. But she couldn't meet Cooper's eyes. 'That was Mum,' she said. 'The police have been and taken Dad in for questioning.’

*

DCI Tailby smiled wolfishly at Andrew Milner, noting the nervousness in his posture and his gestures and the sheen of sweat that had broken out on his forehead. A cup of tea stood going cold on the interview room table in front of him, untouched and beginning to form a scum on its muddy surface.

‘Mr Milner, your daughter Helen has told us about the parties at the Mount.'

‘Oh,' said Andrew, his face crumpling immediately. 'She has described an incident with Graham Vernon. Your boss, Mr Milner.'

‘Yes.'

‘You know all about that incident, don't you? I refer to the occasion when Mr Vernon lured your daughter to one of the bedrooms. From the description, it might well be considered an attempted rape.'

‘Yes, Helen told me. She was very upset.’

And how did you react when you heard about it, Mr Milner?'

‘Naturally, I was shocked and angry. I've always had a good relationship with Graham. I knew he had those parties, of course. Him and Charlotte. They got something out of them, that I could never hope to understand. Different lives, Chief Inspector. Different from mine, anyway.'

‘You knew what these parties were like? But you didn't stop Helen going when she was invited?’

‘Stop her? How could I?' Andrew spread his hands, appealing for sense. 'She's an adult. She takes no notice of me.'

‘You didn't even warn her?'

‘Well, I hoped that everything would be all right. I didn't expect Graham would try . . . something like that . . . with Helen, with my daughter. I thought it would be all right, you see. In any case, she wanted to go. I couldn't have stopped her. I thought it would be all right.'

‘But it wasn't all right.’

He slumped. 'No.'

‘Did you speak to Mr Vernon about it afterwards?’

‘Yes, I did.'

‘What did you say?'

‘Well . . . that I was upset about what Helen had told me. That she had complained he had assaulted her. Sexually, you know.’

And his response?’

Andrew twisted his hands, appealing to Tailby with his eyes for sympathy. He was reliving the moment, just as Tailby wanted him to do. In the end, Andrew sighed deeply and sagged a little further into his chair. 'He just laughed at me,' he said.

‘He thought assaulting your daughter was a joke?' Andrew nodded. 'Apparently. He said those sort of games were expected at their parties. "Games", he called it. And then he said something like: "Never mind, she's a big girl now". I didn't know what to say or what to do. I felt so stupid. He made me feel as though I was the one who didn't know how to behave properly. He can always make me feel like that.'

‘Some fathers would have known exactly what to do,' commented Hitchens.

‘I suppose I'm not that sort of father. Not that sort of a man. I have never seen violence as an answer.’

‘Violence. Ah yes. Was that what I meant?'

‘Wasn't it?' asked Andrew, surprised. He looked confused now and somehow accusing, as if the detective had pulled a trick on him.

‘And, of course, Mr Vernon is probably three or four inches taller than you, a stone or two heavier, younger and fitter. It was better to show discretion, in the circumstances. Very wise.’

Andrew inclined his head, accepting the point without objection.

‘You could have reported it to us. You could have resigned,' said Tailby. 'Yet to choose to go on working for this man ..'

‘Chief Inspector, I can't afford to throw away my job. There are too few for a man of my age and background. I've got a wife, a mortgage. Things have gone badly for me in the past. I can't have it happen to me again. I need that job at Vernon's. Resign? No.’

Tailby eyed the man, suppressing a surge of pity, keeping his face impassive. 'Let me ask you about Mrs Charlotte Vernon, then.'

‘Charlotte?'

‘Mrs Vernon has named you as one of her lovers.' Andrew's mouth dropped open, and he shook his head vehemently. 'Oh no.’

Are you saying she's lying?'

‘I was never that.'

‘Never? Why would she lie about it, Mr Milner?’

‘I don't know.'

‘But you had been to one of the Vernons' parties yourself, hadn't you?'

‘Well, yes. But I wouldn't take part in . . . anything like that.’

Tailby was silent for a few moments. Andrew Milner hung his head, waiting for the next question with the air of a man expecting the inevitable.

‘Where were you on Saturday night, Mr Milner?' Andrew looked puzzled. 'I gave a statement days ago,' he said defensively.

Ah yes.' Tailby consulted his notes. 'You had been to a meeting with some clients in Leeds. A bit unusual on a Saturday?'

‘Not at all. We've been very busy. If the clients work on a Saturday, then we do too.’

And you state that you were tired and stopped for a rest on the way home.’

At Woolley Services on the Ml. I'd had a long day. I dozed for the best part of an hour, I think. It's not safe to drive when you're tired.'

‘Of course. And you state that you were then held up in traffic on the Ml.’

And getting through Sheffield from the motorway, yes. There had been an accident somewhere, I think. And the usual roadworks, you know.’

Tailby slapped the file with his hand. 'Of course there were roadworks. There always are roadworks. The rest of it is quite impossible to substantiate.'

‘I can't help that.'

‘So,' said the DO, 'let's go back to your relationship with Mr Vernon, then. You can't afford to resign, and you can't afford to upset the boss too much. Is that it? So you just grin and bear it when the man assaults your daughter. You accept the humiliation.'

‘I'm afraid that's what I did.’

Tailby stood up. He towered over Andrew Milner, and Andrew cringed as the detective's expression changed to anger.

‘No, I don't think so, Mr Milner. I don't think you did just accept it, did you?'

‘What do you mean?'

‘I think that the humiliation rankled. I think it ate , away inside you — the anger and the humiliation, the self-disgust. The shame that you hadn't been man enough to respond in the way that so many fathers would. You already hated Graham Vernon for his condescension, for the way he treated you like a servant. But now your hatred festered and you wanted to strike back. I think you saw a way of doing that in what must have seemed the most appropriate manner - through his own daughter. Revenge - wasn't that it, Mr Milner? Vengeance for your humiliation, for Helen's ordeal and your own impotence. Tit for tat. Laura Vernon was an obvious target of your anger.'