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And is he still alive?’
    â€˜Good lord, no!’ Libby laughed. ‘She wore him out years ago. The trouble was that his first wife took such an enormous settlement that he only just managed to keep Blagstock House going. I gather Barbara had a little money when he died, but that’s gone now.’
    â€˜They still live there, then? She hasn’t sold it?’
    â€˜No. I haven’t heard of Barbara Denver for years. But I suppose she might sell up to one of the conglomerates. The house is ideal for a hotel. I’m surprised Paul hasn’t already done it.’
    â€˜The son?’
    Libby nodded. ‘An estate agent.’ She sniffed. ‘That’s where the last of the money went, or so the story goes. He used to work for one of the local firms and then decided to set up on his own, so Barbara funded him.’
    Fran nodded slowly. ‘So son Paul would be in an ideal position to sell Blagstock House to the right people.’
    â€˜Not really.’ Libby threw her cigarette end into the fireplace. ‘His business never took off. He liked the trappings of the business rather than the business itself, or so I gather. The lunches and the golf club. That sort of thing. He’s still got a small shop in Nethergate, but it isn’t often open.’
    â€˜Well, I suppose they’ll come in for something from old Auntie. Don’t know what the relationship is, though.’
    â€˜Ask Charles.’ Libby stood up. ‘More tea, vicar?’
    â€˜No thanks, I’m still awash with lager from lunchtime. And anyway, forget all my stuff, you still haven’t told me what happened with Ben.’
    Libby hesitated, then sat down again, fumbling absently for another cigarette.
    â€˜I think we got it together as a sort of what-do-you-call-it, a reaffirmation of life. After all the traumas. For a few days after the arrest we were inseparable.’ She smiled wistfully. ‘It was fantastic. Especially with me looking like an upholstered rugby ball. I haven’t felt like that since I was – ooh, I don’t know – in my twenties. And then it all began to fade away. Family, mainly. After all, his poor family were right in the thick of it all. He was at home with his mother and his sister more and more, because his father took a turn for the worse.’
    â€˜And how is he now?’
    â€˜Old Gregory, or Ben?’
    â€˜Well, both, but I meant Gregory.’
    â€˜He’s recovered, but for how long I don’t know. Susan’s still living there, so after a bit Ben moved back to his own flat in Canterbury.’
    â€˜And what? Nothing? Doesn’t he phone? Take you out?’
    Libby frowned down at her hands still holding an unlit cigarette.
    â€˜I think I said a few Wrong Things.’
    â€˜Oh, Lib! And he withdrew again? Like before?’
    â€˜Yes.’ Libby sighed and looked up. ‘Pete and Harry say he’s uptight because of the family situation, but Pete’s got more cause for that even than Ben, hasn’t he? And he’s not uptight.’
    â€˜I know, but he’s got a solid relationship with Harry. And by the way, what about Pete’s mother? And James?’
    â€˜James is back in his flat, and his mother’s back up at Steeple Farm with a paid companion. I think Pete and James are paying for her between them, but there’s talk of selling the farm and putting her in somewhere like the place Uncle Lenny was in.’
    â€˜Not like The Laurels, then.’
    â€˜Well, no, that sounds more like a nursing home. I saw Uncle Lenny’s, remember. It was like a luxury hotel.’
    â€˜And is he still down here living with Mrs Carpenter?’
    Libby grinned. ‘Yes, happy as a couple of newly-weds, they are, bless them.’
    â€˜Well, that’s good. And after all, when the trial’s over, everything’ll be forgotten and you can go back to normal.’
    â€˜Whatever normal is,’ said