The incident room wasn’t busy, with most available officers out on jobs, others sat hunched over their computers filling in reports and filing paperwork. She went to Rob’s desk and perched on the edge.

‘Guv?’ he looked up.

‘What can you tell me about Pagan worship?’

‘I’m glad you asked. Look.’ He brought up photos of tables decorated with various bits and pieces. Kelly looked at the one discovered at Mary’s house.

‘These are altars?’ Her voice was sardonic but intrigued, and Rob smiled at her.

‘I know what you think about all this stuff.’ He wafted his hand around and pointed to the images. ‘I’m not saying I’m a convert, or a believer; all I’m saying is that there are too many parallels to ignore here. They’re the same connections I’d make on any case.’

Kelly folded her arms. ‘Could I get it past HQ?’

‘Nope.’

Kelly rolled her eyes. Rob ignored her protestations and carried on with his explanation.

‘This is Mary’s altar. Hers was a portable one, and she kept it behind a silk curtain. It was a very private thing. It’s not as if we think she had many guests, but she still kept it out of view. If you look closely, it’s set up for harvest festival.’

‘You’ve been doing your homework.’

Kelly peered at the table in the photograph. It was very attractive. The curtain that was pulled away to reveal it was gold. The table itself was covered with an orange cloth and leaves were scattered around. There was a dried ear of maize, as well as other dried fruits, such as cut apples, and Kelly spotted cloves, thistles and other herbs. A small basket contained a small curved knife (the one she’d shown Ted) with a blade the shape of a crescent moon, and a cup was filled with yellow liquid. She recognised the yin-yang symbol and an incense burner, either side of which was one black and one white candle.

Kelly said nothing, but looked intently at the array of items on display. The thing that touched her most, once she studied the arrangement in detail, was the love and care on display; it wasn’t just a few articles scattered here and there, like any messy table in households up and down the country. At first glance, the crime scene investigator, as well as the attending officers, including Kelly when she first saw the photos from the scene, thought it an occasional table full of ordinary household detritus. Except one thing.

‘That knife. That could do some damage. But I did check with the coroner, he didn’t think it was the right shape, but he hasn’t come back to me with a definitive no just yet.’

‘It’s for cutting herbs, I looked it up. It’s called a boline knife.’

‘It’s beautiful. Did Fred have one?’

‘Not that I saw.’