The Yacht Party (Lara Stone)

She watched Lara mull it over.

Stella knew how badly her boss wanted a breakthrough. Over the past seven days they had seemed to find so many pieces of the jigsaw, but none of them seemed to want to form into a recognisable picture.

‘Did you ask her if Sandrine had tried to contact Michael?’

‘I did,’ said Stella. ‘But she hadn’t heard of Sandrine Legard.’

Lara looked disappointed – as well she might.

‘I did find out one thing though,’ said Stella. ‘Michael was having an affair.’

Lara looked up.

‘Did Helen tell you that?’

‘Not in so many words. She said Michael was a brilliant businessman but you wouldn’t want to be his wife.’

‘Why not?’

Stella sipped her tea.

‘She wouldn’t be pushed much more on it but she did say that Victoria Sachs, the wife, was a lovely, elegant woman and hinted that Michael didn’t treat her very well.’

Lara was quiet for a few moments, then stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans.

‘It’s not her,’ she said finally. ‘Much as I want it to be, Helen Driver isn’t the Helen from the note.’

Stella felt her shoulders sag with disappointment. Lara was right. She had been so excited to find a Helen with such a close link to Michael Sachs it had blinded her to the fact that she hadn’t revealed much.

‘I’m sorry’ said Stella. ‘It wasn’t much use, was it?’

‘Don’t be sorry,’ said Lara, her expression softening. ‘You got a stranger to talk. That’s no small thing – and someone whose loyalties were to her boss too,’

Stella shrugged off the compliment. She knew that talking to people was her superpower, she’d always found it easy. As an only child, it was a skill you had to cultivate and as a teenager, when her mum used to give her a fiver to stay out of the flat because she had a boyfriend round, Stella had developed a wide circle of loyal friends and neighbours who kept her off the streets – literally. But she’d also known that Helen Driver would be happy to talk without too much persuasion. On the surface a PA was a loyal and sometimes fierce guard-dog, but Stella instinctively knew that loyalties only ran so deep when you spent your days booking private jets, luxury hotels or ordering bottles of wine that cost more than your annual wage.

Lara opened a drawer and handed Stella a wedge of takeaway menus. ‘Choose anything,’ she said. ‘The pizza’s good.’

Stella looked down at the glossy brochures, feeling even more dispirited. She didn’t want to say she couldn’t afford a gourmet pizza and she didn’t want to assume that Lara would pay for it either. Lara was already paying Stella’s wages from her own pocket with little prospect of making anything back from the investigation.

‘I’m not that hungry,’ said Stella.

‘I’m getting one and it’s two-for-one night,’ she said.

Stella had the unsettling feeling that Lara saw right through her.

‘You sure?’

Lara nodded.

‘Then I’ll try the hoi sin duck pizza. I’ve never had duck on a pizza before.’

Lara laughed and picked up the phone to make the order. When she’d finished, she beckoned Stella into the next room.

‘While we’re waiting for the food, come and look at this.’

Stella followed her to the spare room at the rear of the boat.

‘Wow’, she gasped, ‘You’ve been busy.’