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'Well excellent, come on in and don't be shy.' He gestured at Zoe, 'I was just getting better acquainted with a new member of staff. Why don't you join me? She's a fascinating little packet.'

'She certainly is,' said the Doctor. 'But I've come here with a different purpose. I want to ask you some questions.'

'Ask away. I'm happy to tell you anything. Anything at all.' Thor took out his cigar and exhaled. 'Nothing quite like a free and frank exchange of ideas.'

The Doctor went and stood beside the sofa, near Zoe. His eyes gleamed as he smiled at Thor. 'What were you doing in the billiard room this morning?'

Thor smiled back. 'Oh, I'm in the billiard room every morning.'

'This the room that your brother believes is exclusively his private domain and into which no one else dares venture?'

Thor chuckled. 'Yes, that would be the one. I'm usually in there quite early. While Roderick is still sluggishly in bed I'm stealing a march on the day, reading the newspapers and enjoying a brandy.' 'So it was your routine to read the newspapers in the room where the body was found. As a way of snubbing your brother.'

'Let us say it has the pleasurable bonus of snubbing him, while allowing me to acquaint myself with the latest world events. And enjoy a decent armagnac.'

'But don't you think it's a little strange to be enjoying a brandy over the dead body of your uncle?'

Thor's smile faded. 'It wasn't exactly over his dead body. I had the armchair turned away at a discreet angle. You're making it sound disgusting.'

'Nevertheless, it seems a trifle odd.' The Doctor turned to Zoe, who nodded in agreement. 'Behaving that way in the room with your uncle's dead body.'

Thor stared at them both with indignation. 'Why, if a man's going to let every little thing interfere with his daily routine . . . ' He strode to the marble dresser, discarded his cigar with a flick of a finger into a deep blue enamel bowl, selected another one, clipped it, lit it, and puffed out a veil of shimmering smoke. 'There would be

chaos,' he concluded, taking the cigar from his lips and inspecting it

with approval.

'Tell me about the key to the billiard room.'

'What about it?'

'Do you have a copy of it?'

Thor smiled. 'Of course I've got a copy of the key. I imagine every Dutchman, navvy and fiddler's bitch in south east Kent has got one.' 'Your brother doesn't seem to be of the same opinion.'

Thor turned and began to pace the room. 'There are very few areas where Pemberton and I share the same opinion.'

He walked over and sat beside Zoe on the sofa. Without any ceremony or preamble he draped one of his hands on her leg, well above the knee. 'Women, for instance,' he said.

Zoe immediately stood up, dodging away from the warm intrusive hand. She went to the door and turned around. 'I think I'd better be going now,' she said, her voice shaking a little.

Thor was unperturbed. He moved to the Doctor and purred, 'Perhaps you'd help me convince the young lady to experience the further reaches of human pleasure.' He smiled and winked. 'And then, Doctor, you could share in enjoying her obvious charms.' He turned and walked towards Zoe, toying with the long tasselled belt of his silk dressing gown. 'We could open some champagne and make an occasion of it. I haven't had a proper orgy for ages.'

The Doctor smiled politely. 'Who was it who once compared the human sexual impulse to a laboratory rat pressing a button that is wired to its pleasure centres, endlessly pressing and pressing and pressing the button, relentlessly and mechanically, until the rat collapses?' Thor's face fell. 'Well it certainly wasn't Catullus or Sappho.' He went to the dresser and poured himself a healthy nip from a bottle of brandy. 'You certainly know how to put a damper on things, Doctor.' 'Good,' said the Doctor. 'Now I'd like to ask you a few questions about the murders.'

'Oh so we're calling them murders now, are we? Earlier, they