‘Raymond did. It was him that called the police, and the ambulance. But there were never any charges.’

Watching his manner change, Cooper guessed the answer to his next question.

‘What was the name of the police officer who dealt with the incident?’

Elder stared at him, a question of his own clear in his eyes. But he evidently read what he wanted from Cooper’s face, and realized he wasn’t giving away any information that Cooper didn’t already know.

‘PC Palfreyman turned up. He said he’d sort it out himself, the way he always did.’

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cooper had no choice but to go to his DI with the results of his interview. Hitchens had just received the results of the postmortem on Tom Farnham, and he was ready to hear some good news.

‘Blunt-force trauma from a severe beating,’ he said. ‘Blows to the arms and legs produced contusions and haematomas, and the radius of the left arm was fractured. Further blows to the chest caused extensive bruising, and an injury to the abdomen had damaged the spleen. And that’s before we get on to the penetrating trauma from two bullet wounds, one of which was actually what killed him.’

‘They wanted to make a proper job of it,’ said Cooper.

‘More than that. They didn’t just kill him, Ben, they were sending a message.’

‘Yes, I see.’

‘And I bet everyone in Rakedale has received the message loud and clear. Not that they needed any encouragement to keep their mouths shut, by all accounts.’

‘No, sir,’ said Cooper. ‘Except …’

Hollowbrook Cottage was low lying enough to avoid the hill mist that was clinging to the plateau now that the rain had stopped. Palfreyman was raking dead leaves from his path, and heaping the damp, black mass into a compost bin. He dropped his rake when the car turned into his drive and came forward to meet them. He led them into the house with hardly a word.

‘Mr Palfreyman,’ said Hitchens, opening the conversation, ‘you’ve told my officers that you visited Pity Wood Farm on several occasions while the Sutton brothers lived there.’

‘In the line of duty, yes.’

Palfreyman already sounded on the defensive. Of course, he wasn’t stupid, and he had experience of the job. A third interview, and the presence of the DI himself, would suggest that someone didn’t believe what he’d been telling them, or thought he had information he was keeping back.

‘That’s right. But according to other witnesses we’ve talked to, you actually became quite friendly with the Suttons. You were often seen drinking with them at the Dog Inn.’

Palfreyman smiled. ‘Now, that would be off duty, of course.’

‘Was that a regular occurrence?’