‘It looks that way,’ the scene of crime officer agreed. ‘How long would it take to drag a body from the boot of a car, or a van, carry it across the allotments, run back to the vehicle and drive off?’

Geraldine didn’t answer but she nodded. The scenario the scene of crime officer had suggested was plausible, and the body had certainly been transported there somehow.

Back at the police station, there was some speculation over whether the dead body could be Jason Colman.

‘Yes, it’s possible, but is there anything in particular that makes you think it might be him?’ Ariadne responded to Geraldine’s suggestion with a question.

‘Admittedly there’s nothing about the body itself to suggest it’s Jason, but he’s been missing for ten days,’ she replied. ‘This victim has been dead for over a week, so it fits from that perspective, and there’s been no other reports of men missing recently in the area. It’s by no means conclusive, but it’s possible. At least we need to look into it. And if it is him, we need to find out how his body got there, and who was responsible.’

‘And then we’ll know who killed him,’ a young constable piped up. ‘But if it is Jason, why would he turn up now, out of the blue? He disappeared ten days ago.’

For a moment no one answered, then Geraldine commented bluntly,‘He must smell pretty awful by now. That’s as good a reason as any for removing him from wherever he was being kept.’

‘Of course,’ the constable muttered, looking slightly uncomfortable.

‘You’ll get used to it,’ Geraldine said kindly.

‘And if it’s not Jason, who is it?’ someone else asked.

Geraldine was fairly confident they had found Jason.

‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Eileen cut in. ‘And whoever it is, we need to establish the victim’s identity as soon as possible and start to investigate. It can’t be a coincidence if David’s son-in-law is found dead less than a week after David himself was murdered.’

‘And after his granddaughter disappeared,’ Ariadne added. ‘Don’t forget the missing baby.’

‘No one’s forgetting the baby,’ Eileen snapped.

Out of the corner of her eye, Geraldine saw Ian flinch. More than anything she wanted to speak to him and hear about what was going on in his life, but there was no time. While she dithered over whether to work her way around the room towards him, he strode away. Afraid of a rebuff, she was reluctant to try to see him in his office and instead returned to her own desk. There was certainly enough work there to keep her occupied. Even if the second victim’s death had been an accident, which was possible, moving the body across the allotments and over the fence into a private garden had been a deliberate and carefully planned action.