‘Now?’ Fred asked. Kelly didn’t answer. He got up and accompanied her downstairs. She knew her way to the lounge and went in.

‘That.’ She pointed to the table covered in silk, which had been sketched by Rob. ‘Is it an altar?’

Fred looked at his feet. Kelly saw that he was too weary to argue. He nodded. ‘It’s not what you think.’

‘How do you know what I think?’ she asked. ‘If you’d asked me two weeks ago what someone might want with an altar in their house, I’d have probably written you off as a devil worshipper, but now I don’t think that at all. But I would like you to explain it to me. The more I know about Mary’s lifestyle, the more chance I’ve got of getting inside the head of who killed her. And you think it was Kirk Junker, don’t you? Just like Joe Spencer. I hope, for your sake, that his daughter is safe.’

Fred shuffled to the table and lifted the silk. ‘This is symbolic of everything I believe. Those people out there,’ he nodded to the garden. ‘Everything they believe too. These are our magic tools, as well as emblems of our lives and seasons.’

A voice inside Kelly’s head told her to laugh, but another, stronger one, made her pause and not just listen to the man before her, but feel his passion. He was simply stating what meant the most in the world to him, and at the same time, mourning the passing of a dear friend. She could tell by the way he touched the items, and the way he spoke, that he believed that Mary was killed for her faith. Carry Tomlin might have a point after all. She’d already tasked DC Emma Hide with questioning the journalist, but so far they’d failed to contact her.

‘What are they?’ She pointed to several items on the altar.

‘We celebrate the four elements: here, this is a bowl of earth, the candle symbolises fire, incense the air, and this is purified water.’

‘I thought there were five elements?’

‘You mean spirit? Yes, but it commands the others. It’s more ethereal. This is an athame.’

‘That’s quite a blade, Fred. It’s very beautiful. What’s its significance?’ Kelly noted with interest that Fred was showing her a very ornate and slightly curved knife that had been absent – or covered by cloth – when Rob drew his picture. She particularly noted the shape of the blade.

‘It represents fire. It’s not for violence at all. The opposite in fact. It’s male, as the chalice is female. Everything in our faith is about balance. That’s why we have the black and white.’

Kelly took a deep breath. ‘Fred. I believe what you’re telling me and I believe that all those people out there are gentle and peaceful. But…’