Chapter 33

Elizabeth goes straight to Willows after meeting the police and oversees Penny’s weekly hair wash and set. Anthony, the hairdresser, chats while working and repeats a rumor that the Mafia killed Tony Curran over money, but Elizabeth and John Gray challenge the theory because there were no bullet holes, no alarm trips, no damage, and no struggle.

Elizabeth uses those facts to sharpen the murder theory: Tony must have let the killer into the house, meaning the killer was likely someone Tony knew. Anthony leaves after finishing Penny’s hair, and Elizabeth remains beside Penny, using the visit as a place to think aloud.

Elizabeth turns over another odd detail from the police meeting: Donna and Chris took Jason Ritchie outside for a photograph afterward. Because Joyce’s flat has a large picture window that could have served just as well, Elizabeth wonders whether the officers had another reason for taking Jason out, perhaps to question him about something else.

Elizabeth then questions the group’s own assumptions. The financial file and the twelve million pounds have made Ian Ventham look suspicious, but Elizabeth asks whether they actually know where Ventham was when Curran died or whether the timings make his guilt possible.

John Gray unexpectedly offers a useful observation. He explains that on the day Tony was killed, after watching Escape to the Country, he went for a drink and saw Ventham’s Range Rover driving away from the top of the hill at exactly 3 p.m. Elizabeth recognizes the significance of this possible timestamp and prepares to text someone, ignoring the rule against mobile phones in Willows.