AS RAFFERTY HAD SUSPECTED, Llewellyn was inclined to pooh-pooh both Rafferty’s theories about the rings and Alice Pickford’s romantic aristocratic fancies.
‘I think we should be concentrating on those who benefitted in a material way from Mrs Egerton’s death. A couple of rings, even if they did represent a spiteful taunt from beyond the grave at Miss Pickford’s unmarried state, hardly constitute much of a motive for murder. As for this other business.’ With a wave of his hand, Llewellyn dismissed Alice Pickford’s girlish dreams. ‘A lot of abandoned children dream of wealthy backgrounds and the arrival of a fond and monied father overjoyed to meet them at last. It seldom happens except between the pages of women’s fiction.’
‘’You think I’m being a tad Mills and Boonish?’
‘Just a tad, per
