It was then Cooper noticed the ex-PC’s huge hands. They were clenched tightly on the arms of his chair, their blue veins standing out like ropes. Those hands were almost the only sign of a tremendous tension that seemed to have gripped him. When Cooper became aware of it, he looked for other indications. After a moment, he saw that Palfreyman’s entire body was quivering, as if a great volcano of emotion was being suppressed, a hot vat of lava that might burst at any moment. Yet Palfreyman’s face remained impassive in response to the DI’s questions.

Hitchens must have thought he just hadn’t understood.

‘Methamphetamine. That’s a Class A substance known as crystal meth.’

‘Impossible,’ said Palfreyman bluntly. ‘I would have …’ He stopped, and gritted his teeth. ‘Well, I would have known.’

Then the DI gave Cooper a look, inviting him to have a go at the subject.

‘Mr Palfreyman, today I interviewed a Mr Jack Elder, from Rakedale. Do you know him?’

‘I know everyone,’ said Palfreyman, a trifle sullenly.

‘I’d like to ask you about an incident that Mr Elder says took place at Pity Wood Farm, between him and Derek Sutton.’

‘Incident?’

‘I’m sure you remember. You remember everything that happens in Rakedale, don’t you?’

Palfreyman gazed out of his window for a while. The grey mist hung in the woods half a mile away, but it hadn’t reached his property. Not yet.

‘Yes, I got the call to that,’ he said. ‘I had a young probationer with me, showing him the ropes. We responded to a 999, and we blue-lighted to the scene. Got there way ahead of the ambulance. We found Jack Elder bleeding all over the place, and you could see his jaw was broken. Derek had calmed down by then, but Raymond was in a right state. When we arrived, he was pacing up and down the yard, swearing violently. Honestly, he was like Ahab cursing Moby Dick. Sin and damnation, and I don’t know what else.’

‘What did you do?’ asked Cooper.

‘I did the right thing. I had a word with all three of them, then got on to the radio to Control and told them it was a farm accident. We loaded Jack into the ambulance when it came, and he got fixed up. It was the probationer who took the most sorting out, but he did what I told him.’

‘Did that really seem like the best way of dealing with it?’