‘Er, no, sir. Sorry.’ Bevan found her place in her notes again. ‘The horsebox, I think – I’m checking – was stolen from a livery stable in Cirencester, which could be why we never got wind of it. Wherever it’s from, there’s no forensics. It remains an open murder case with them.’ Bevan put her notes away. ‘Sirs, I chatted to Mr Bright-Cullingwood on the phone about an hour ago and he said that the day after the burglary he locked his office, which is located at the bottom of his garden, as the “contaminated” space was no longer an inspiration for his writing. He’s not been in it since. So, I thought maybe . . . it might be worth sending forensics over?’

She looked at Jack for approval, but he remained silent and thoughtful. When he did speak, he said something sobering: ‘Looks like Mathew Barrowman got off bloody lightly then, didn’t he?’

Jack walked to the bank of windows overlooking the idyllic views beyond. He recalled one of the first things he ever said to his team of Chipping Norton officers: ‘This gang will not move on and disappear for good. They will not escalate to murder, which I know is your biggest concern. We will get them.’ But the truth now, it seemed, was that this gang were already killers.

‘Right . . .’ Jack turned and addressed the expectant room. They were subdued after Bevan’s diligent research into an eight-month-old murder case, so Jack had to kickstart them. ‘Fundamentally, nothing’s changed in terms of the investigation. More seems to be at stake now, I understand that, but we can’t deviate from the path we’re on. Bevan . . .’ She stared at him expectantly, like a child who’d been ignored by her parents. ‘Well done.’ The tension immediately drained from Bevan’s face. ‘You should go with forensics and supervise. After you’ve finished briefing the team and after you’ve done one job for me – which I’ll tell you about in a minute. Carry on . . . horseboxes and motorbikes.’

‘Oh, right, sir. Yes, well . . .’ Bevan took a deep breath and began again. ‘The big problem is that from the weekend after next, we’ll be inundated with horseboxes and motorbikes because of the equestrian event. Tens of thousands of people will descend on the Cotswolds.’

Jack held up a hand. ‘What’s the relevance of the biker? Why are they suddenly of interest?’