‘Is Winston Churchill still Prime Minister?’ asked Fry.

‘No, but someone’s landed on the Moon.’

They went through all the drawers they could find in the kitchen, the sitting room, and a small parlour. Eventually, their search turned up a large, leather-bound book like a ledger, and sheaves of paperwork left loose or stuffed into boxfiles. Cooper lifted out the book and freed it from the papers.

‘Farm accounts?’ asked Fry.

‘Yes, I think so.’

‘Bag everything, Ben, and make sure it’s all logged as evidence. We’ll look at it when we get back to the office.’

‘Fair enough.’

Cooper did as he was told, then continued to poke around in the kitchen cupboards, curious about what the Suttons might have left behind that gave an insight into their lives.

‘This is interesting, Diane.’

‘What have you found?’

‘A Sani Bag.’

‘A what?’

‘A sanitary-towel disposal bag. This one is from a Novotel. They provide them in their bathrooms for guests.’

Cooper turned the bag over in his hand. He’d never looked at one closely before. It was made of a strong, shiny white plastic, overprinted with blue text in four languages, and it could be sealed by peeling off an adhesive strip and folding down the flap, the way some envelopes were sealed. A set of symbols on the back made it clear that the bag should be disposed of in the bin, not in the toilet bowl. For some reason, these instructions were given in six languages, rather than four.

‘There’s a Novotel in Sheffield,’ he said. ‘On Arundel Gate, near Hallam University. That’s the nearest one I can think of.’

‘There’s another at Long Eaton, near Junction 25 of the M1.’

‘The M1? Well, that would be convenient, too. I suppose it’s the sort of thing you might take away with you from a hotel, like those little bars of soap, and hand towels.’

‘Yes,’ said Fry. ‘But only if you’re female.’

‘So we’ve found evidence to suggest that at least one female was living at Pity Wood Farm. One of our victims, Diane?’

‘Impossible to say, until we have an ID.’

‘We need to get SOCOs into this kitchen,’ said Cooper. ‘If violence was committed, this is a likely place for it to have happened.’

‘Yes, I suppose we might hit lucky – old bloodstains on one of those knives, or in between the tiles of the floor.’

‘Or poisons in the fridge.’

Cooper opened the door of the Electrolux and let her have a glimpse of the jars with their unidentifiable crystallized residues.

‘Jesus. Did people really live in this house?’ said Fry. ‘Or did they just turn it over to the animals?’

‘If we can establish a primary crime scene, Diane, it would change everything.’

‘Yes, you’re right. I’ll suggest it as a priority.’