‘Ah Jock, he’s been here as long as the hills, I’m not surprised. So, Edna and Kirk, eh? Before Mary I assume?’

‘At the same time, apparently. There were rumours that Edna did Skyclad meetings with him, which I understand means worshipping in the nude.’

Fred bent his head. ‘No. I don’t believe that for one minute. This is the sort of thing that gets us a bad name. That journalist said we were all into orgies and naked prancing around the forests, chanting nonsense and raping virgins. It’s a hate crime, I tell you! That’s what you should be investigating! Who told you that?’ Fred stood up. His face had gone purple and Sandra soothed him.

‘We’re not at liberty to say.’

‘Edna was a lovely woman. She had nothing in her heart but love for her son when we knew her. Have you news of him? Not that Edna will ever benefit from it.’

‘Not at this time, but if Kirk Junker is a suspect in Mary’s case, then we have to consider him in the disappearance of Edna’s son.’

‘My God.’ Sandra sat heavily. ‘What’s he done? He’s the devil, so he is.’ She put her hands over her eyes and rubbed them. Kate decided that they’d caused enough trauma for one day, and the couple needed to process what they’d discovered in a very short space of time. They had a solid alibi for yesterday, pending receipts, and they still needed to talk to Jock. The boss wanted them both brought to the station, but she’d also told them to get their line of questioning spot on.

‘Is Jock in the garden? We’ll talk to him and get out of your way, it’s been a hard day.’

‘Yes, it has.’ Fred snapped at them.

‘We’re just doing our jobs, Mr O’Reilly. DI Porter advised you to speak to a lawyer, how is that going?’

Fred didn’t answer. It was time to leave. Sandra showed them into the garden, where a young man played guitar, and others sat around him. It was a lovely late afternoon and the sun had turned golden. There was a nip in the air but it was a scene that warmed the heart, Kate noted. It was unusual for her to feel something approaching pure happiness. More often than not, her life was one long circus train of teenage angst, fights over the shower, endless bills, a lazy husband and bastard criminals. In this garden, she felt at peace, and she didn’t want to leave. She smiled at Rob, who looked at her oddly. She noticed that some of the women had flowers in their hair and a few children played in a tree house.