It was only once they were in the hallway, and Carry looked around, that she realised that the family wasn’t perhaps as well off as she’d assumed. The décor was shoddy, the house was freezing and the furniture looked dusty and dirty. There was also a foul smell, and Carry covered her mouth. She heard the buzz of flies and guessed the place was a hovel. ‘Can I make you a drink?’ she was asked. It was a mild-mannered voice, immature almost, and it touched Carry that perhaps her source was nervous too. She relaxed a little.

‘I’m so sorry about the smell. One of the dogs crawled under the house, after a rat, and we didn’t find her until it was too late.’ As if on cue, Carry heard barking.

‘Oh, what a shame!’ she said.

‘It was the smell that led us to her. We’ve cleaned and cleaned but it still lingers.’

‘The poor thing. I’ve got water, thank you. Shall we talk about what you told me over the phone?’ Carry asked.

‘Of course. I wasn’t comfortable meeting down at the car park. It felt silly in the end, sitting in the middle of nowhere, as if I’ve done something wrong, when I could invite you here.’

‘Well, thank you. Is anyone else home?’ Carry asked.

‘Just the dogs. Come on, I’ll introduce you.’

‘How did you know Mary Hales?’ Carry felt as though she might as well dive straight in.

‘I recognised her photo in the news. I used to frequent the same kind of groups as she did.’

‘Covens?’

‘They could be called that, yes. I came to the conclusion that I was perhaps a bit too cynical for the average member, so I stopped attending, but Mary was a High Priestess: very high up in rank. She ran things. When I read your articles, I thought you might like to know. You seem interested in it.’

‘Oh, I am. Could you tell me about the coven? Any names? Meeting times? Locations? Rituals?’

‘Let’s go and sit down shall we?’

‘I’m sorry, I’m bombarding you with questions.’

‘It’s not a problem, I need to feed the dogs, that’s all.’

Carry followed into another hall and through two more doors. The interior of the house was dark and lifeless and Carry thought that it must be a depressing existence living here. The smell became stronger and she stopped following.

‘In here.’

Carry paused, but she shook away the nagging doubt and went into a large room, where she could hear the dogs. Two hounds bounded over to her and jumped up and she recoiled away when she smelled them. They stank, as if they’d been living with the dead dog for weeks: maybe they had. They slobbered on her and she noticed a brown, foul smelling gunk around their mouths.

Then she saw their bowls.