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job to do and I intend to do it, in spite of your interference. So let me ask my questions, and then if there’s anything we haven’t covered, you can have your turn.”
    It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an instruction. I knew what I’d done was bang out of order. I’d taken a big risk on the strength of my friendship with Ruth, and I didn’t want to risk damaging those bonds any further. Besides, I like watching people who are really good at what they do. “That’s absolutely fine with me,” I said.
    â€œYou mean she really isn’t meant to be here?” Richard asked, his grin irrepressible even in the face of Ruth’s frown.
    â€œIf you weren’t facing such serious charges, I’d have bounced her out of the door. It didn’t seem like a good time to generate even more suspicion on the part of the police. Now, Richard, let’s get to it. I don’t have all night.” Ruth picked up her pencil and started to write. “Let’s start at the beginning. What happened tonight?”
    Richard looked uncertain. “Well, the beginning isn’t tonight. I mean, depending on what you mean, the beginning’s either Tuesday night or three weeks ago.”
    It was my turn to grin. I didn’t envy Ruth her task. I love him dearly, but the only time Richard can tell a story in a straight line from beginning to end is when he’s sat in front of a word processor with the prospect of a nice little earner at the end of the day.
    Ruth squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Maybe you could give me the short version, and I’ll stop you when I don’t understand something.”

    â€œIt’s this job Kate’s got on. I’ve been helping her out with it. We have to buy these cars, you see, and then we give them back to the car company.” Richard paused hopefully.
    Ruth’s gray eyes swivelled round and fixed on me. “Perhaps you’d like to elaborate … ?”
    I nodded. “My clients are the finance arm of the Leo Motor Company. They suspect some dealerships of committing fraud. It’s our job to provide them with evidence, so Richard and I have been posing as a married couple, buying cars with money supplied by Leo, who then take the cars back from us,” I said.
    â€œThanks. So, you’ve been buying these cars. What happened on Tuesday night?” she asked.
    â€œWe’d picked up this really ace motor, the Gemini turbo super coupé,” Richard said enthusiastically. “Anyway, I had to go into town, and I decided to treat myself and drive the coupé, since we’d only got it for a day or two. Then when I came out of the club, the car was gone. So I came home and reported it stolen to the police.”
    Ruth looked up from her pad. “Did they send anyone round?”
    â€œYeah, a copper came round about an hour later and I gave him all the details,” Richard said.
    â€œAnd I informed my client first thing on Wednesday morning, if that’s any help,” I added.
    This time Ruth didn’t scowl at me. She just made another note and said, “So what happened next?”
    Richard took off his glasses and stared up at the ceiling. A line appeared between his brows as he focused his memory. “I went into town about nine tonight. I had to meet a couple of women in the Paradise Factory. They’re the singers in a jazz fusion band, and they’ve just signed their first record deal. I’m doing a piece on them for one of the glossies. It was too noisy in the Factory to hear ourselves talk, so we left and went round to Manto’s.” Trust Richard to spend his evening in the trendiest café bar in the North West. Looking at his outfit, I was surprised the style police had let him in. “We stayed till closing time,” he went on. “The girls were going on to the Hacienda, but I didn’t fancy it, so I went off to get my car. I’d parked it off