Ellacourt and Gabriel had for sizzling across the stage. Evidently, Sydeham recognised this reaction, for he smiled as if in acknowledgement and went on.
"My wife is one hell of an actress, Inspector. She always was. But the truth of the matter is that Gabriel put his hands up her skirt one time too many during Othello last season, and she was through with him. Unfortunately, she didn't tell me how determined she was never to perform with him again until it was too late. I'd already negotiated the deal with Stinhurst for this new production. And I saw to it personally that Gabriel had a part in it as well."
"Why?"
"Simple business. Gabriel and Ellacourt have chemistry. People pay to see chemistry. And I thought Joanna could take care of herself well enough if she had to appear with Gabriel again. She did it in Othello, bit him like a shark when he went for tongue during a stage kiss, and laughed like hell about it afterwards. So I didn't think that one more play with Gabriel would set her off the way it did. Then like a fool, when I found out how absolutely dead set against him she was, I lied to her, told her that Stinhurst had insisted that Gabriel be in the new production. But unfortunately, last night, Gabriel let it out of the bag that I was the one who had wanted him in the play. And that was part of what set Joanna off."
"And now that it's certain there's to be no play?"
Sydeham spoke with ill-concealed impatience. "Joy's death does nothing to change the fact that Joanna's still under contract to do a play for Stinhurst. So is Gabriel. And Irene Sinclair, for that matter. So Jo's working with both of them whether she likes it or not. My guess is that Stinhurst will take them back to London and start putting together another production as soon as he can. So if I wanted to help Joanna-or at least put an end to the anger between us-I'd be orchestrating a quick end to either Stinhurst or Gabriel. Joy's death put a stop to Joy's play. Believe me, it didn't really do a thing to benefi t Joanna."
"To benefit yourself, perhaps?"
Sydeham gave Lynley a long look of evaluation. "I don't see how anything that hurts Jo might benefit me, Inspector."
There was certainly truth to that, Lynley admitted to himself. "When did you last have your gloves with you?"
Sydeham appeared to want to continue their previous discussion. Nonetheless, he answered cooperatively enough. "Yesterday afternoon when we arrived, I think. Francesca asked me to sign the register, and I would have taken my gloves off to do so. Frankly, I don't know what I did with them after that. I don't remember putting them back on, but I might have shoved them in the pocket of my coat."
"That was the last time you saw them? You didn't miss them?"
"I didn't need them. Joanna and I didn't go out again, and I'd no need to put them on in the house. I didn't even know they were missing until your man brought the one into the library a few minutes ago. The other may be in my coat pocket or even on the reception desk if I left them there. I simply don't remember."
"Sergeant?" Lynley nodded towards Havers who got up, left the room, and returned in a moment with the second glove.
"It was on the floor between the wall and the reception desk," she said and laid it on the table.
All of them gave a moment over to examining the glove. The leather was rich, comfortably worn, and initialled on the inner wrist with the letters DS in intricate scrollwork. The faint scent of saddle soap spoke of a recent cleaning, but no remnants of that preservative clung to seams or to lining.
"Who was in the reception area when you arrived?" Lynley asked.
Sydeham's face wore the meditative expression of looking back upon an activity that one thinks at the time is unimportant in order, in retrospect, to place persons and events in their correct positions. "Francesca Gerrard," he said slowly. "Jeremy Vinney came briefl y to the door of the drawing room and said hello." He paused. He was using his hands as he talked, illustrating each person's position in the air in front of him in a process of visualisation. "The boy. Gowan was there. Perhaps not immediately, but he'd have had to be eventually since he