‘Take a break everybody,’ she said. She walked away from the group and over the lip of the summit. It wasn’t a high peak by any stretch of the imagination. It was modest, at about two thousand feet. But it was a taxing walk nonetheless and her chest heaved. She’d tell them to spread out and search the summit, exploring hidden edges and scrubland that was hidden from view. She felt foolish and almost called off the whole thing. She walked away from the main group and faced Keswick. The cars and trees looked like little models and she wanted to cup them in her hand and sort through them looking for answers: it would be a whole lot easier than picking through a theory on a mountainside and coming up with nothing. A senior mountain ranger approached her, he was a pal of Kev and Johnny’s.

‘Can I call you Kelly in front of this lot?’

‘Of course you can.’ She smiled at him and she saw the grief and anger in his face. They’d shared plenty of pints over the last few years together, sharing Johnny’s stories and appreciating the fells.

‘If I were to take shelter for any length of time up here, it’d be behind a pile of Cairn stones just over that lip, facing Blencathra. Gossip at the rescue centre is that whoever took out Kev had recently joined the climbing club. He did a practice walk with the same group over on Blencathra. If your man was stalking them, he’d know these hills like the back of his hand. That’s where I’d be.’

Kelly nodded her thanks and he offered her a sip of sweet tea. It was welcome and she took it. It refreshed her and armed her to face the group and share what she’d been told. They’d spread out, making their way in ever-increasing contour lines, as they made their way below the summit line.

The land wasn’t littered with features like some hills were. There was little foliage, few boulders or sheer drops and no bothies or shelters for farmers. It was the oldest range in the Lake District and was fairly round and worn and bleak. The fact should help them, Kelly thought. She delivered her instructions and prepared to move off, descending in all the directions of the compass. Kelly faced directly east, towards Blencathra. She’d walked and slipped down only a few metres when the voice of the others disappeared and she was by herself. Only their radios crackled and whistled in the wind.