‘The evidence was fairly conclusive,’ said Fry. ‘Even the CPS were perfectly happy with the case. He had the video recorder in his possession at his flat. That was careless.’

‘He claimed he’d bought it in a pub car park,’ said Cooper, his memory of the details perfectly clear. ‘He seemed to expect a receiving charge. He still insists he didn’t nick the video himself.’

‘Videos are among his favourite items, according to his PNC record. And cotton fibres found on his jacket matched the cover of an armchair in the cottage.’

Cooper noticed that Fry’s recollection of the details was good, too, though it was much longer since she had seen the file.

‘The video was on a stand next to one of the armchairs in the Weston house,’ she said. ‘The evidence indicated that Sugden had sat or kneeled on the chair, presumably while disconnecting the video from the telly.’

‘But all the other stuff?’ asked Cooper. ‘The cash and jewellery that was taken. None of that was ever found. Sugden couldn’t account for it. And then there’s the damage. The broken furniture, the smashed pictures, the Tabasco sauce on the carpets. You’d think he’d have got some Tabasco on his shoes, at least.’

Fry shrugged. ‘You can’t have everything. He was a bit lucky. But the fibres were enough to establish his presence in the house.’

‘Of course. But now Sugden has been out of prison for three weeks.’

‘I know you think he might have had a grudge against Jenny Weston. But surely she should have a grudge against him, not the other way round?’

‘Some of these people don’t think logically. If he had a really bad time in prison, he might blame her for it, in his own way. We’ve known stranger things.’

‘It’s possible, I suppose.’ But Fry sounded unconvinced. ‘Wayne Sugden is a petty thief. He doesn’t sound like a killer to me.’

‘It depends what happened to him at Derby. It depends on who he’s been mixing with. They go in as petty villains and they come out like Reggie Kray. It’s called rehabilitation.’

Fry stared at the file in Cooper’s hands as if she was hardly listening. ‘Remind me – how did we manage to get a search warrant in the first place?’

‘The investigating officer had a tip-off,’ said Cooper. ‘A reliable source who placed Sugden in the vicinity of the Weston house and acting suspiciously.’

‘This was someone who knew Sugden by sight?’

‘Apparently.’

‘The usual, I suppose. Some pal he’d fallen out with, who decided to get his own back.’

‘Why do we trust the information we get from these people?’

‘Because they’re often right,’ said Fry. ‘This one was. The search turned up the video recorder. He was guilty, Ben.’

Cooper put down the file, dispirited by the echo of Todd Weenink’s words.