Ted accepted gloves and shoe covers and Kelly walked with him back to the tent. The professionals inside all knew the coroner, and the air shifted slightly. Somebody senior and important had just entered, and it made the situation graver. Ted Wallis was also physically impressive: his voice, his demeanour and his dress all indicated a man of wisdom and experience, and he automatically garnered respect. As he walked around the body, Kelly watched him, continuing to sketch and take notes. Ted spoke his thoughts and she didn’t want to miss anything. She’d seen him at plenty of crime scenes before, and she enjoyed watching his approach.

He was a fit almost-sixty-year-old and showed no signs of slowing down. While they’d been in Florida, Johnny’s daughter Josie had stayed with Ted, whom she considered like a grandfather to her. Apparently they’d been hiking together. They’d obviously had a blast and Josie had been spoiled, while Ted looked more than just healthy and happy; he looked revitalised and younger.

He knelt down to peer into Ella Watson’s face. Then he moved behind her and examined the wounds with a magnifying glass. With his other hand, he pulled her tight running clothes away with a pair of long tweezers, turning his head this way and that.

‘These punctures come from different directions, Kelly.’

She went to him and bent over.

‘Look, this one looks as though the force came from here and upwards.’ It was the cut in her groin that he referred to, which had sliced her femoral artery.

‘This one came from above and from this side.’ He pointed to the gash in her abdomen, which had severed her aorta. ‘So unless your killer moved around her in some kind of dance, which is highly unlikely, given that there are no prints in the blood, I’d wager you have two.’

Chapter 3

Thomas Watson’s mouth was dry. The drive from the golf club to his home on the shore of Ullswater was longer than he’d ever imagined. No one had told him what was going on. His gut sat in his toes all the way.

Why would the police have Ella’s phone?

All they’d said to him was that they’d found it and they needed to speak to him urgently. They’d offered to send a car, but he’d refused. Jordan and Millie were at school until gone five p.m. He wanted to be at home. It made him feel closer to his wife, even though he had no idea what it was the police wanted with him.

He’d called the closest of her friends on his way back on hands-free. None of them had talked to her or seen her.

Maybe it was about the children. He called the school, who confirmed that Jordan and Millie were in their lessons and everything was normal.

Normal.