POLICE are to reopen their investigation into the death of the wife of former Hong Kong minister Lord Caithness following a riddle over the time of the fatal gunshot.
They intend to look into an apparent time difference between the time of the shooting given by Lord Caithness and evidence from a former inquest witness who put it three hours later.
The parents of Lady Caithness have also written to police complaining about faults with the inquiry.
The former Hong Kong minister, who was having an affair at the time of the shooting, said he last saw his wife alive as he played cards with his daughter at 6.20 pm [UK time] on January 8.
He told the inquest Lady Caithness killed herself at their Oxfordshire home at 6.30 pm. However, a neighbour heard ''a loud bang like a gunshot'' at about 3 pm.
The doctor called to tend to 40-year-old Diana said he was called at 6 pm and by the time he arrived at 6.30 pm she appeared to have been dead for about three hours.
The inquest should have closed the tragedy for the earl, who resigned from his post as transport minister soon after the shooting.