As they left, Connie’s eyes focused on a small group of officers tucked in against the wall of the church, sheltering against the cold.

“He’s here!” she gasped. “Jack Warr’s here. This is to do with us, Angela. They’re digging up Dolly!”

“Why on earth would they be digging up Dolly?” Angela dragged Connie away before she could be overheard. “Calm down, this doesn’t have anything to do with us. I can see Dolly’s grave from here and they’re nowhere near it. They’re round the front somewhere.”

As they walked away, Angela looked back at the faint glow of portable LED lighting coming from the main churchyard. Whoever the police were digging up, they were important enough to have one of the big graves out front.

It took another hour to dig down as far as the coffin and hoist it out onto the grass. The brass plate on the lid read HARRY RAWLINS, another reminder for Raeburn of the mistake they’d made all those years ago. The coffin was put into the back of an undertaker’s van, and Ridley, with Raeburn in his passenger seat, followed.

Foxy was in early so that he could open the coffin as soon as it arrived. This was the “bag of bones” Jack had spoken to him about. When he popped the lid, all that was inside the coffin was an incomplete skeleton. It was easy to see every inch of the coffin without having to move the body itself. There was nothing else. No diamonds. No bag or box that could possibly contain diamonds.

Raeburn walked away.

“What was she expecting?” Foxy asked.

Ridley headed for the door. “A promotion.”

Chapter 22

Audrey Withey was furious about being brought into the station at 7:30 in the morning. She’d not even had time to dry her hair so, as she sat in Interview Room 1 dunking biscuits into her coffee, she complained about uncontrollable frizz.

“I’m not having my picture taken!” she shouted. “I flatly refuse!”

The female PC standing just inside the door was used to disgruntled visitors and was, therefore, perfectly able to block out the noise of Audrey’s voice.

Anik’s early morning knock on Audrey’s front door had been designed to catch her off guard. It was an uncomfortable start to the day if you had something to hide. Audrey, with a lifetime’s experience of being around criminals, was suitably wary. Her aggressive attitude and posturing came from uncertainty—perhaps even fear.

On the other hand, Susan Withey, who sat in Interview Room 2, was a naturally early riser. So, when Laura knocked on her door at 7:30, she’d already been up for a couple of hours. She was calm as she sipped her tea. She had no experience of police interview rooms and, therefore, no ingrained fears; she simply assumed that they wanted a chat about Mike.

Ridley and Anik joined Susan and offered her more tea, which she accepted and then sat down. Anik tucked his legs neatly under the table, but Ridley sat further back, giving himself the legroom to put his left ankle onto his right knee. He was relaxed, so Susan was relaxed.