“Meanwhile all the cups and things used for the tea and biscuits were washed up and put away. When the doctor did see the body he wasn’t satisfied, and we didn’t know anything was wrong till after the post-mortem that night. Didn’t suspect murder. The old man had no enemies; in fact, he was a bit of a character and well liked.

“When we knew it was cyanide, we got busy. The drill about the tea was this. Every afternoon at three Mrs Robinov took a large pot of tea, milk, sugar, and biscuits to the fitting-room, and when the assistants had a chance to slip away they went there and helped themselves. Generally, the first one who managed to get away from serving took a cup of tea to the boss.”

“Which one took him his tea that afternoon?”

“Girl named Shirley Andrews. Age seventeen. Been working for Goldspink for five months. Good character.”

“What type of employer was he?”

“One of the best. Used to boast that his girls left him only to be married.”

“When she put the tea cup on the counter, how far was it from the customer?”

“Shirley Andrews says about a yard. The assistant serving the customer, girl named Mary Isaacs, says a yard and a half. They think in yards, you know. The customer was standing at the time, although she had sat on a chair when first she arrived and had to wait to be served. Goldspink was between her and the cup of tea. It couldn’t have been the customer, but we worked like hell to find the woman.”

“She never came forward? Did you advertise for her?”

“We did,” replied Crome. “Same old tale-wouldn’t be mixed up in a murder case.”

“The public was informed it was murder?”

“Yes. Young Pavier saw to that. The Super’s son. Reporter on theBarrier Miner.”

“Pity. Were you able to obtain a description of the customer?”

“Yes, but not a good one. Both girls were a bit hazy about her.”