‘Speaking of Cinderella, wasn’t the pantomime great the other night?’

‘Great.’

‘I know it’s all a bit naff, Ben. But if you take it in the right spirit, it’s good fun.’

‘Of course. It was great. I enjoyed it. Really.’

Liz laughed again, because she knew he was lying.

‘And you’re still coming with me to the baptism service tomorrow, aren’t you?’

‘Of course. I’ll be there, with my suit on and everything.’

And, although he’d promised himself he wouldn’t, Cooper found himself thinking about work. He was mentally trying to fit the residents of Rakedale into a pantomime cast. Some of them were chasing the magic genie of the lamp, while others stood around in the street cracking bad jokes, and the Emperor Ping Pong refused to let his daughter marry a poor washerwoman’s son.

Cooper had a feeling he’d met Wishy Washy and Widow Twankey. Maybe even Inspector Chu. But where was the evil Abanazar?

Jack Elder dragged his fingers through his beard, staring in disbelief at the walls of the interview room and at the triple-deck tape recorder as the tapes started to turn, waiting for his answers to Fry’s questions. He’d been waiting an hour already, while checks were made on him. It wasn’t long, but it was enough for anyone to get nervous about what was going to happen next.

‘Mr Elder, we have information that you’ve been offering supplies of cheap diesel. Would you like to tell us where you’ve obtained that diesel from?’

‘Oh, that? Well, that’s just a bit of business, you know. I work for this little haulage company as a driver. I’m a farmworker really, but you make a living any way you can round here these days, and haulage is a good business to be in, if you get your HGV licence. And I’ve got this mate, you see –’

‘Name?’

‘You what?’

‘The name of your friend?’

‘Now, I can’t do that. You don’t shop a mate, do you?’

‘Well, I can understand that. But it would only be a problem if you were doing something illegal together, Mr Elder. Is that the case?’

‘Well, I …’ He stumbled, unsure now of what the right answer was.

‘Where did this cheap diesel come from, sir?’

‘My mate, see, he works for the same haulage company, at the depot. The company has its own diesel tanks, to keep the wagons fuelled up.’

‘So this is diesel you and your friend steal from your employer?’

‘No, well … I don’t ask him how he gets hold of it, I just assume it’s legitimate, you know. Surplus to requirements, or something.’

‘Oh, come on.’

‘I help him to sell it, that’s all,’ said Elder earnestly. ‘He gives me a cut on sales. A bit of commission, if you like. Just to supplement my wages.’