“It must have been around six o’clock, inspector,” said Sloane. “And what time was your appointment with Mr. Hardcastle?” “Five. We always met at five on the last Friday of the month, to go over my department’s figures.” “And when you left him, did he seem in good spirits?” “Never better,” said Sloane. “My monthly results were up by two point two percent, and I was able to tell him the details of a new project I’d been working on that he became very excited about.” “It’s just that the pathologist has put the time of death at around six o’clock on Friday evening, so you must have been the last person to see him alive.” “If that’s the case, I only wish our meeting had lasted a little longer,” said Sloane. “Quite so. Did Mr. Hardcastle take any pills while you were with him?” “No. And although we all knew Cedric had a heart problem, he made a point of not taking his medication in front of members of staff.” “It seems odd that his pills were scattered randomly over the floor of his office while the empty bottle was in his hand.
