Carnage on the Committee by Ruth Dudley Edwards

soul of parties in the name of networking while she sat at home seething. Can't have done her character much good.' Another chuckle. 'Still, it gave her the inspiration to write that all-men-are-bastards novel that created a bit of a stir, so I suppose you could say I gave her her chance.'
    'Did you keep closely in touch?'
    'We did the parental bit reasonably successfully. Shared the kids' holidays and that sort of thing and didn't fight too much about money. Tessa mightn't agree, but Hermione wasn't mean. A bit mercenary, yes. Wanted access to money. But not mean.'
    'Was she a good mother?'
    'Conscientious. Expected too much of them, if you ask me. Very disappointed that neither of them made Oxbridge. As if it matters. But I suppose she thought it reflected on her. As my failure did.'
    'You have not been a failure, Ralph,' said his wife, as she swept into the room with a tray. 'You have been a fine teacher and your children love you - even her children.' Handing a mug to each of the men, she left the room again.
    Pooley cupped his mug in his hands. 'I really need to know more about Lady Babcock's relationships with men, Mr Babcock, and, frankly, I don't know how to ask you the next question.'
    'You want to know what she was like in the sack, is that it?'
    To his chagrin, Pooley felt himselff blushing. 'Well . . .'
    Babcock pulled himselff lazily forward, picked up a plate and waved it in Pooley's direction. Pooley shook his head and Babcock took a chocolate biscuit. 'I should think Hermione has always done what she thought was expected of her if it suited her. Are you with me?'
    'Calculated, sir?'
    'Calculated, Inspector. Calculated and controlled.' He demolished the biscuit in two bites. 'To my knowledge there was no corner of Hermione's life in which she wasn't a control freak. The exception was her irrationality about Flora. If it hadn't been for Flora, Hermione wouldn't have wanted to marry me: I'm sure the idea was that I would be a far more successful actor, so Hermione could patronise and belittle her sister from her vantage point at the top of glamorous London society. Hence the pregnancy. Talk about the law of unintended consequences!'
    He snorted into his mug, and then reached for another biscuit. 'She thought she was pulling off a daring plan, but I didn't deliver. Flora did brilliantly and Hermione became domestically a drudge and professionally a badly-paid, unhappy instructor of disadvantaged kids whom she despised.' He burst out laughing. 'I'm not much help, Inspector, am I? I seem to be giving you an excellent motive for Hermione to have murdered Flora then, rather than for person or persons unknown to kill Hermione now.'
    'I know very little about my mother's private life, Inspector,' said Joshua Babcock. 'She was not the sort of person with whom one discussed intimate matters. I'm afraid I can't help.'
    Pooley moved the phone to his other ear while he tried and failed to think of an inspired question. He decided to fall back on the simple appeal. 'Mr Babcock, I need your assistance. There is no obvious motive for your mother's murder, so the police need those who loved her to help us determine why anyone should have wanted to kill her. I need to know what kind of person she was. What kind of enemies she might have made.'
    'Who have you talked to?'
    'Your father and stepmother, your stepfather and your aunt.'
    There was a chuckle that reminded Pooley off Joshua's father. 'Hardly a list of those who loved her. Except for William, I suppose.'
    'That's where you come in.'
    "Fraid not. Inspector. It's pretty difficult to love someone who regards you as an obstacle to achievement. Alex and I weren't best pleased when she went on about the pram in the hall being the enemy of good art. And of course there was all that Virginia Woolf wankery about a room of her own.'
    'Well, she certainly got that all right.'
    'She sure did. Several in fact. And they certainly weren't child-friendly. Or indeed