‘Oh, come on, Joe! Tell the woman what you know and get it off your chest!’ Annie virtually spat out the words. Kelly and Rob stared at Joe. He spread his hands.

‘Can I just say: Fred is no black magic worshipper. My wife has a different view of the religion that Fred follows and Mary followed.’

‘Religion! It’s dangerous, that’s what it is,’ Annie interrupted again.

‘Of course it’s not bloody dangerous! Christ, Annie, you’re delusional!’

Kelly and Rob stared at one another as the married couple vented. It wasn’t the first domestic they had witnessed as police officers, and it wouldn’t be the last. They waited patiently for the partners to stop their sparring.

‘Perhaps it might be better if we spoke to you both separately?’ Kelly suggested.

‘Fine, I’ll go and bring in some logs.’ Annie left the room. Joe looked at the officers. The door banged as Annie left.

‘We disagree on Fred’s passion for Paganism.’

‘Is it an organised form of religion, then? People meet, follow scripture, worship images and pray? I just need to get this clear for myself,’ Kelly asked.

‘Of course. It’s just like any form of group devotion, it’s just that most were associated with witchcraft and the dark arts during the ascendancy of the Christian Church, and they died for it. It’s had a bad image ever since. You know, the lonely old hag in the forest with a black cat? She used to be seen as the wise woman, who used herbs and nature to heal, but the Church wanted people to believe that only God could heal, and so they destroyed ancient learning and replaced it with their own, burning witches as they went.’

‘That’s a damn fine history lesson, but why are people so scared of it? Why does my team and I keep reading about spiritual symbols, ritual sacrifice and demons?’

‘Because that’s the reputation it’s been given. Fred doesn’t belong to any large organisation; Pagans tend to organise themselves and meet with like-minded people, to basically revere nature. It’s all about the rhythms of the seasons and the sun and the moon: just like it was thousands of years ago. You must have heard of the Druids?’

Kelly nodded. ‘Of course, they transformed into wrens, right?’ Joe stared at her with an odd expression on his face.

‘I’m impressed, yes, legend has it that they did.’

Kelly carried on. ‘Am I right in thinking that the birdwatching group that Fred and Sandra told us about is perhaps a Pagan group? And am I also right in thinking that perhaps part of what they did involved worshipping a Moon Goddess?’

Joe looked down at his feet and sighed.

‘Yes and, yes. It’s called a coven, but they don’t tend to use the term because covens are associated with witches, thanks to Shakespeare, of course.’