Kessen finished by deflecting the question that everyone was bound to be asking.

‘We’re not able to say at this stage whether the death of Mr Thomas Farnham in a shooting incident is related. But all possible lines of enquiry are being followed up.’

Thinking of Christmas, Cooper remembered that Jack Elder was still in custody, and he would have to be either charged or released soon. Fry had left him her interview notes and her copy of the tape. Cooper went through to familiarize himself with Elder’s answers, then he called down to ask the custody sergeant to put Elder in an interview room.

Elder’s long grey beard did make him look a little bit like Santa Claus, though a Santa who’d been down too many chimneys and drunk too much of the sherry.

‘I’m sure we’ll have this sorted out soon, sir,’ said Cooper, sitting across the interview-room table. ‘There are just a couple more questions I’d like to ask you. One or two things that we’re not clear about.’

‘What’s that, then?’ said Elder.

‘Well, for example, you said in your previous interview with DS Fry that you had never been to Pity Wood Farm. Is that correct?’

‘Yes. I was never at the place. I saw the Suttons in the pub, and that was all. I stayed away from their old farm.’

‘And my colleague put to you a statement from a witness who claims to have seen you going in and out of the farm many times with your lorry.’

Elder shook his head. ‘Not me. They were wrong.’

‘You see,’ said Cooper, in his best kindly manner, ‘since we had to arrest you, Mr Elder, we took your fingerprints and a sample of your DNA when you arrived in custody, as you know. That’s standard procedure, and it’s not significant in itself. But it does mean that we can compare your prints, and your DNA profile, with any that we have on file. Those will include samples that have been collected from crime scenes over several decades.’

‘Oh?’

‘It’s amazing what technology can do now. We’re clearing up an awful lot of old crimes, just by comparing DNA samples to the database.’

‘What has that got to do with me?’

‘Well, it’s like this,’ said Cooper. ‘How shall I explain it? If you told us you’d been at Pity Wood Farm, then there would be no problem. But since you’ve insisted twice now that you’ve never been there, it means that, should we happen to find your fingerprints, or some DNA evidence that does put you at the scene, then … well, we know you’ve been lying to us. And that looks very suspicious, doesn’t it?’

Elder licked his lips and twisted a finger in his beard. ‘Suspicious?’