‘Did you notice something about Raymond Sutton’s behaviour?’ said Fry when the minibus had left. ‘Apart from the fact that he evaded a direct question, I mean.’

‘Oh, what?’ said Cooper.

‘He was fine with us – well, in his own way. But he had a bad reaction to the uniforms.’

‘Yes, I did notice that.’

‘Interesting.’

‘What are you thinking, Diane?’

‘I’m thinking I’d liked to have asked Mr Sutton what he remembers of PC David Palfreyman. In particular, why he’s so worried when he sees a police uniform on his farm.’

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the back of the farmhouse. Voices shouting, someone running heavily through mud, a door slamming, more shouts.

‘What the heck’s going on?’ called Fry to a SOCO standing at the corner of the house.

‘Someone got through the outer cordon. It looks like they’ve caught him inside that old caravan.’

‘Interesting,’ said Fry. ‘Let’s go and see what this is all about.’

By the time she and Cooper made their way to the broken-down caravan, two uniformed officers had their suspect secured and in the back of a car. One of the officers had slipped during the chase and was vainly trying to wipe the mud from his trousers.

Fry walked over to the car.

‘Do you see who I see, Ben?’

‘Yes, an old friend of yours.’

Fry opened the door. ‘Well, what are you doing here – again?’

Jamie Ward looked up at her from the car. He was a frightened boy again, white faced and dishevelled. The same young labourer she’d met that first day on the farm when he turned up human remains.

‘I wasn’t doing any harm,’ he said. ‘I told them, but they wouldn’t listen.’

‘Jamie, you shouldn’t be here at all. It’s a crime scene.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘What were you doing in the caravan?’ asked Fry. ‘Were you looking for something, Jamie?’

‘No.’

Fry shook her head. ‘Don’t lie to me. I don’t like it.’

Jamie turned away. ‘I can’t tell you. I don’t want to get in trouble.’

‘You’re already in trouble.’ Fry turned to the mud-spattered officer. ‘Has he been searched?’

‘Yes, Sergeant. Nothing on him but a few personal items.’

Fry regarded Jamie Ward sadly. ‘We’d better search the caravan then, hadn’t we? It was going to be done anyway, before long. I’m sure you realized that, Jamie.’

The young man groaned. ‘Oh, look – it’s only a bit of pot. It’s no big deal. I used to sneak into the caravan for a quick smoke in my break, when the other blokes weren’t looking. It was the only thing that made working here tolerable.’

‘Jamie, you’re a silly boy if you left your drugs lying around for anyone to find.’