When Cooper finished the call, he took a drink and wondered what he should do. The realization that even Diane Fry was worried about her position made him uneasy. This was one of those moments when anyone could be forgiven for covering their backs. He ought to take stock of the things he’d neglected to do, in case he was challenged on them some time.

He looked at Liz. She met his eye, and stood up. Cooper wondered if there was something on his list that wouldn’t seem too much like work. If so, he might just get away with doing it today.

As Liz came over to his table, he remembered. Time for a visit to a nice heritage centre, perhaps.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Two hours later, and the day had been disrupted for everyone. Units were arriving rapidly at Tom Farnham’s house near Newhaven. Cars rattled over the cattle grid, officers were taping off the breeze-block garage, the flash of a digital camera burst intermittently from behind the half-open doors.

Cooper could see that the chiefs were out in force for this one. And on a Sunday afternoon, too. DCI Kessen and DI Hitchens stood conferring with the crime scene manager, Wayne Abbott, in the doorway of the garage workshop. The discovery of Tom Farnham’s body had been reported by one of his customers, calling to pick up a repaired lawnmower.

‘A totally senseless crime,’ said Fry. ‘Apparently, they didn’t get away with a thing.’

‘There’s no sign that they were disturbed in a burglary,’ said Cooper.

‘Apart from the deceased body of the householder lying covered in blood on the floor, you mean?’

‘I mean, what were they hoping to steal from the workshop?’

Fry looked around. ‘Lawnmowers? There’s a good market for them, I’m told.’

‘Yes, there is. But they haven’t touched them. You can see none of them has been moved an inch. And who would beat the householder to death when they were only out to nick an old lawnmower?’

‘Like I said, totally senseless.’

Cooper thought Fry had been much too quick to jump to conclusions about the attack on Tom Farnham. But he didn’t really blame her for it. Senseless crimes were all around them these days – there were stories in the papers every day. People didn’t understand the reasons for them, but they no longer doubted that such things happened. It was almost a first assumption.

‘There could be some other motive. It’s more than a coincidence, Diane.’

‘Oh, right. They were followers of the Old Religion, of course. And Tom Farnham had broken the faith.’

Hitchens came towards them. ‘All hands on deck, chaps. The medical examiner says that the victim wasn’t just beaten to death, he was shot. His attackers used something like a nine-millimetre pistol. They gave him a beating first, then finished him off with a couple of bullets.’