'So I see, Mr Buckmaster.'

'I had the courage to identify the body when Superintendent Stockdale requested me to do so. It was a hideous sight but I didn't flinch. An actor must have complete self-control. Not that I didn't shed a tear for him,' he went on, inhaling deeply through his nose. 'Mr Kellow was a pleasant young man with a patent love of what he was doing. Apparently, he helped to make that silver coffee pot. It showed exceptional talent.'

'How would you describe him?'

'He struck me as an intelligent, well-spoken, responsible chap. He was somewhat unworldly, though, and felt uneasy at travelling in a first class railway carriage. It was obviously a rare treat for him. Miss Linanne and I are used to people being cowed by our presence – that's part of an actor's stock-in-trade, after all – but Mr Kellow was completely over-awed.'

'Did he tell you anything about his work?' probed Colbeck.

'Not at first,' replied Buckmaster. 'We found it hard to get more than two words out of him – and he kept hugging his leather bag as it if contained the Crown Jewels. We had great difficulty persuading him to let us see the coffee pot and we were not allowed to touch it.'

'What was your first reaction when you saw it?'

Buckmaster hunched his shoulders. 'I knew that I was looking at a work of art, Inspector.'

'Was it really that good, sir?'

'Don't take my word for it. Miss Linnane is something of an expert on silver – perhaps because her admirers have showered her with gifts made of silver over the years – and she was entranced by it. I'm sure that she'll tell you that when you speak to her. At the moment, alas,' he said with a sigh, 'she has this foolish notion that that murder only happened because we are staging a play that has a history of disasters associated with it.'