‘But you want to spend time with Natalie. I’d just be in the way.’

‘No, you wouldn’t,’ she lied. ‘I’m not going to leave you here alone.’

‘But I won’t be any fun. I can’t pretend to be jolly. I don’t want to eat turkey or open presents. It’s just not right. Not without my Dennis. And I’m worried sick about Andrew. How can you expect me to celebrate?’ A large tear streamed down Veronica’s plump and pale face.

‘No one expects you to want to celebrate. If you want, you don’t even have to join us for Christmas lunch, but I won’t leave you here alone and I can’t stay. I just can’t. I’ve not seen Natalie for two years.’ Francesca felt flustered by the stress of it all.

‘Okay,’ she finally agreed, seeing the despair on her sister’s face. ‘I’ll come with you. You’re right. There is no point staying here on my own. It won’t do me any good.’

‘That’s that then.’ Francesca clapped her hands together with relief and stood up. ‘Natalie can sleep on the sofa and you can have her room. I’ll tell Doug to have everything ready. He can meet us at Heathrow and drive us all back. Don’t you worry about a thing.’ She picked up the now cold and untouched cup of tea and took it into the kitchen, leaving Veronica alone. She felt relieved that they had cleared up one matter but knew there was another pressing subject she still needed to address.

Before too long, she would have to speak to her sister about Dennis’s funeral but that could wait for another day. They all needed to take things one step at a time and, as Francesca filled the sink with hot water and washing up liquid, she looked out of the window over the garden. Snow was beginning to fall again.

Elly Hale sat at her desk going through the reports on the phone calls that the Crimestoppers helpline and the station had received since the press conference. They had received a lot of bogus calls from people who were either lonely, mad or bored. But when she came across a statement from a group of students who had been out partying late, she felt a glimmer of hope.