‘Well, the uniforms on duty up there say they had trouble turning away a bunch of characters in black coats,’ he said. ‘Apparently they were carrying so much metalwork on their bodies they wouldn’t have got through airport security without the help of a surgeon.’

‘What did they want?’

‘They said blood had been spilled on the Virgins, and that meant the power would manifest some time in the next twenty-four hours, so they had to be there to receive it.’

‘Bollocks,’ said Jepson.

‘They were pretty insistent. In the end, they only retreated as far as the pub in Ringham. The inspector is worried that when they come back they’ll be tanked up and more aggressive. Fortunately, I think we’ve managed to keep them out of the way of the other lot so far.’

‘What other lot?’

‘The other lot who say they have to perform a cleansing ritual dedicated to the Great Goddess, so as to dispel the influence of evil from the stone circle, which is a sacred place. Some of the bobbies were all for letting them go ahead with that one.’

‘You what?’

‘Well, they’re all women, and it seems they have to perform this ritual naked.’

Jepson put his head in his hands and groaned.

‘It’s called “sky-clad”,’ said Hitchens.

‘What is?’

‘Having no clothes on. You’re clad in nothing but the sky, so that you’re much closer to nature and the Great Goddess.’

‘Hitchens, are you enjoying this?’

‘No, sir. I’m just reporting the information that the uniformed section gathered. They spent quite a while talking to this lot, I think. We might have some converts in E Division. They’ll be wanting to form an Edendale chapter of the Order of the Golden Moon.’

‘Haven’t we had any plain old psychics and mediums, then?’

‘You’re kidding. Twelve at the last count. We’ve also had a dowser offering to locate the knife using nothing but a bent twig; an animal linguist who wants to interrogate the squirrels, because she thinks they could have been eyewitnesses, and a UFO expert who has proof that the victim was abducted by aliens for unspecified experiments which went wrong. Oh, and some preservation experts from that government department, English Heritage.’

‘English Heritage? What the hell do they want?’

‘They demand the right to inspect the stone circle for damage. They say it’s a priceless piece of our cultural history.’

Jepson frowned. ‘I’ve heard that phrase before. Is it from a book or something?’

‘Could be,’ said Hitchens. ‘It seems to be us that English Heritage suspect of damaging the stones, by the way.’

‘They’re nuts. Get rid of them.’

‘They’re not half as bad as the press. That lot are all over us like a nasty disease.’

‘Was that their chopper over the moor yesterday?’