‘Surely he’s just another of Daisy Benson’s clients.’ ‘Very likely, Marriott,’ said Hardcastle, as he engaged a cab from the rank outside the station, ‘but anybody who was acquainted with Ronald Parker, however loosely, might just lead us to his murderer. And Daisy, it seems, knew both Parker and Powers; that’s the connection. It’s one of the principles of criminal investigation to tie up loose ends. I’d’ve thought you would’ve known that, Marriott.’ ‘Yes, I see, sir,’ said Marriott, following the DDI into the cab. It was yet another of his chief’s little homilies on murder that he received from time to time. But he still could not see the point of pursuing Powers. However, he would be the first to admit that Hardcastle’s enigmatic whims often produced a satisfactory result. As the two detectives alighted from the cab in Gordon Road, a man left Daisy Benson’s house. ‘Ah, Mr Smith, we meet again,’ said Hardcastle jocularly, as he recognized the man he had seen on his last visit, and whom Daisy had said was a lodger.
