Maggie had hoped to gain more information than she had, but was not really surprised that the police were keeping their cards so close to their chests. There was no doubt the case would be jeopardised if they told everyone what they were thinking. Still, she felt a pang of disappointment.

‘Are you sure you won’t have some cake? My chocolate sponge and buttercream icing is famous in these parts.’

Not wanting to offend her, Palmer asked if they might take a piece back to the station to share out among the team. Thrilled that her cake was finally being welcomed, Maggie insisted on boxing the entire thing for them to take back with them. Barrett stood on the doorstep and thanked her for her time, while Palmer left carrying a large white box.

17

4.15pm 26 June

Barrett sat behind his desk with a face like thunder. The investigation seemed to be stalling and he was impatiently waiting for the results of the post-mortem. It seemed unlikely that Janet Cox had gone into the water where she was found, and as soon as that was confirmed, which he was certain it would be, he could get on with searching for the scene of the murder. The longer that took, the more likely it was that any forensic evidence would be lost or damaged, and the thought did not please Barrett, or his team.

Due to the suspicious nature of the death, they had to wait for a pathologist from the Home Office to do the post-mortem. Barrett knew there were rules and processes, and most of the time he agreed with them, but once in a while, when an investigation was hindered by bureaucracy, he wondered why such practices existed. Surely, catching a killer was more important than following protocol?

But Barrett had been in the force long enough to know that there was no point dwelling on it. There were other things he could be getting on with while he waited, and he had – he’d interviewed everyone except Amy Martin and Shirley Grubb, and he would be the first to admit that he’d had talked to enough women to last him a lifetime. He found them to be complicated creatures, and he struggled to decipher important information from what was, simply, waffle.

When Palmer appeared looking flustered, Barrett knew it must be because he’d received a call regarding the post-mortem results.

‘Right.’ Palmer, slightly breathless, was holding the notes he’d jotted down while listening to the pathologist. ‘She did not go into the water where we found her.’

‘I knew it,’ Barrett said, matter of fact.