Joanna awoke late and Simon had already left for work. That seemed to happen all the time now. Sometimes she thought she could sleep all day. She made coffee and carried the mug with her to the pottery but found it impossible to settle to work, and after ten minutes wandered back to the house. The decision to phone Alex was made on impulse and immediately she wondered why she had not thought of it before. Of course she should speak to old Alex, the most together person she knew. Alex would tell her what to do.

‘Hi!’ she said. ‘Look, I haven’t seen you for ages. I was wondering if I could come to Monk’s Wood. I’ll take you to the pub and buy you lunch.’

There was a pause. ‘I’m sorry,’ Alex said. ‘I’m really tied up this week. Rowan’s away on tour and I’ve got the baby.’

Well, sod you, Joanna thought. So much for friendship. Then it occurred to her that Alex might have a man in her life again and was disposed to generosity.

‘That’s OK,’ she said. ‘I’ll give you a ring in a few weeks. You can tell me all about it.’

‘Yes,’ Alex said. ‘Right.’ And Joanna was surprised by the relief in her voice.

The arrival of the library van came as a welcome distraction.

Vic Liddle came back to Keeper’s Cottage for coffee at ten o’clock. He had shot three rabbits and stood by the sink to skin them, deftly sliding his knife between the flesh and the fur.

‘What shall I do with these?’ he asked. He had to repeat the question because Marie, polishing silver at the other end of the table, seemed not to hear. She looked up.

‘Leave one out,’ she said. ‘I’ll make a stew for tonight. The others can go into the freezer.’

He held the rabbits by their back legs and slid them into a polythene bag, then rinsed his hands under the tap.

‘That policeman was around again today,’ he said. ‘That Inspector. Mr Grenville called me into the estate office to speak to him.’

This time she responded immediately.

‘What did he want?’

‘I don’t know. I couldn’t make sense of it. The questions didn’t seem to lead anywhere. Then he wanted to know about Craven. How did Craven get on with Mr Grenville? he said. I told him that if he had any sense Craven would see he had a lot to be grateful for. I never wanted him as under-keeper. If it wasn’t for Mr Grenville he wouldn’t have a bloody job.’

Marie listened but her mind was elsewhere.

‘Have you seen that Mr Palmer-Jones today?’ she asked suddenly.

Vic shook his head. ‘No. Someone said that he’d taken the early train for London.’

‘Is he coming back?’