‘The kitchen knife is still missing?’ Branson asked.

‘Well,’ Gee said, and hesitated. ‘Maybe, but possibly not.’

‘Meaning what, Chris?’ Branson prompted.

Looking expansively at the team, Gee said, ‘It’s early doors, but as the boss told you, we have a major search of an area in Ashdown Forest currently under way. Just over an hour ago a woman’s blue-and-white trainer, with a matching shoe size to Eden Paternoster, was found alongside what looks like a shallow grave with no body in, which we have declared a crime scene and is currently being excavated. Close to that we’ve recovered a kitchen knife with bloodstains. I’ve not had a chance to examine it myself, but from the photographs that have been sent to me, it looks a pretty close match to the one missing from the knife rack in the Paternosters’ house. It’s being sent to the DNA lab for priority analysis.’

‘This knife,’ Branson said. ‘It was the largest in the rack?’

‘Yes,’ Gee confirmed.

Branson shot a glance at DS Stratford, then back at Gee. ‘The kind a butcher might use to cut up an animal?’

‘Quite possibly, yes.’

‘Are you excavating through the night?’

‘We are, until midnight.’

‘If you find any human remains, please call me, and I’ll come over.’

‘I will do, sir,’ Gee said.

Branson thought about the knife. He knew that in any stabbing where a knife without a hilt, such as a kitchen knife, was used, when plunged into a human body it would very likely strike bone, causing the assailant’s hand to slide forward from the handle onto the blade and create a deep cut. In the majority of stabbings the offender’s blood would be mingled with the victim’s. If this knife which had been found had any trace of Niall’s DNA, it would be a major step forward.

He made a note then looked up at the Crime Scene Manager again. ‘Did your team have any luck locating a will in the house, Chris?’

‘Not so far, sir, no. But they are still going through the contents of filing cabinets in a spare room being used as an office, and two more cabinets we found up in the loft.’

Branson nodded, then turned to Emily Denyer. ‘Emily, you’ve been investigating the Paternosters’ finances. How’s that going?’

‘Well, quite interesting, sir – particularly in light of what we’re hearing and from the interview with her husband. Mrs Paternoster seems to be a wealthy woman – in relative terms. She is very much the breadwinner in the relationship, earning substantially more than her husband. The house is in her name, probably because she is the one who put down the original deposit when they bought it. That lump sum came from a combination of her savings and an inheritance from her grandmother, who died five years ago. The mortgage appears to be paid off, possibly unknown to Niall, and at the present time, Eden Paternoster has just over £10,000 in cash savings, invested through her personal account at the HSBC bank in Ditchling Road, Brighton. I’m awaiting replies on her rental properties and there are still a couple of organizations I need to hear back from, too. I’m also trying to track down any life insurance that may exist.’