‘And we detected it, too,’ said Hitchens. ‘Who needs Home Office grants?’

Tailby grunted, unamused. The previous year, word had gone round that there was government cash available for special initiatives targeting residential burglaries. Divisions were invited to come up with their own projects – but there were criteria to be met. There had to be a target area with a high enough level of burglaries. E Division had failed to get the cash, because no matter how they juggled the geography or the time periods, the figures just wouldn’t stack up.

‘This was more than a burglary, actually. The place was trashed. It was a real mess – you should see the photos.’

‘There’s nothing new in that.’

‘I talked to the investigating officer yesterday, anyway,’ said Hitchens. ‘At least he’s still in the division. Usually you find they’ve long since moved on somewhere else, or they’ve packed it in and joined that firm of enquiry agents that set up in town a couple of years back.’

‘What’s the other thing?’ asked the DCI.

‘Well, Mr Weston had a little bit of trouble last year. There was an enquiry after a fatal accident to a child on a school trip he was leading.’

‘OK. We might as well ask him about it, I suppose.’

‘More than that, sir.’

‘Why?’

Hitchens tapped the file. ‘It all came out when we made the arrest for the burglary. This convicted offender, name of Wayne Sugden – it turned out he was the uncle of the child that died. It was no secret that the family blamed Mr Weston for the accident, because it was all over the papers. He got death threats, too, but we could never prove where they came from. It seems the Sugdens are a pretty close clan in Edendale. You’re not safe if you harm one of their number.’

‘So the burglary could have been revenge on Weston?’ said Tailby. ‘Is it significant?’

‘There’s one good reason it might be,’ said Hitchens. ‘This Wayne Sugden. He got sent down for twelve months, protesting his innocence all the way to Derby nick. But the trouble is – they let him out two weeks ago.’

Ben Cooper was back in the CID room when Diane Fry returned from her meeting. She saw him, but she started tidying files and brushing biscuit crumbs from an unoccupied desk.

‘So, Diane, how have you been getting on with Maggie Crew?’ he said.

He didn’t think there was anything about his tone of voice that could have made Fry look sharply at him in the way that she did now.

‘What’s your interest in Maggie Crew?’

‘Just asking.’

‘She’s not one of your underdogs, you know.’

‘What do you mean?’