‘Ah yes, the trouble with in-laws.’ Palmer grinned. ‘Sally was worried you didn’t have any plans,’ he continued, referring to his wife, ‘so she asked me to invite you to spend the day with us.’

‘Really?’ Barrett was not often taken by surprise.

‘Yes. We’ve got a turkey big enough to feed an army. You’re more than welcome.’

‘That is a very generous offer,’ Barrett said, choking down emotion.

‘Obviously if the case is still on-going…’ Palmer didn’t finish the sentence.

‘Obviously,’ Barrett agreed as they approached the kebab shop.

An hour later they were back at the station and in an interview room with Shane Matlock, who sat nervously in a chair opposite the two inspectors.

‘Thank you for agreeing to come in.’ Palmer undid the top button on his shirt and loosened his tie. ‘We just have a few more questions.’

‘We’ve been looking into Wendy Matlock’s finances,’ Barrett began. ‘It appears that you still pay a large proportion of the mortgage on New Barn. Is that correct?’

‘Yes.’ Shane looked sheepish.

‘Can you tell us why?’

‘Wendy and I didn’t split up because we stopped loving each other. We just wanted different things. I knew she couldn’t afford it on her own, so I carried on making payments. I didn’t want her to lose the house as well as me. She didn’t deserve that.’

‘Very noble,’ Barrett said with a hint of sarcasm.

‘Does your girlfriend know you are still helping your wife out financially?’ Palmer rested his hands on the desk.

‘Well, no,’ he admitted.

‘Why not?’

‘It would upset her.’

‘But now that Wendy Matlock is dead that problem no longer exists, does it?’ Barrett folded his arms.

‘No, I suppose not.’

‘Tell us again about the last time you saw your wife?’ Palmer asked.

‘Like I said, I saw her a few weeks ago when I went over to the house to collect some post.’ Shane shrugged.

‘We understand you defaulted on your last two mortgage payments.’ Barrett fixed Shane with a stare.

‘That’s none of your business.’ Shane sat forward angrily.

‘I’ll think you’ll find it is, Mr Matlock,’ Barrett replied with a smile. ‘This is a murder investigation and we are looking for a motive.’

‘Why did you default?’ Palmer was keen to take a softer approach.

Shane put his head in his hands and let out a long sigh. ‘Business hasn’t been great lately. It was killing me paying the mortgage and the rent for my place in Royston. Gemma wanted to stop working when she found out she was pregnant. She said she didn’t want to be a working mother. I agreed it would be nice for her to be a stay-at-home mum, but I didn’t expect her to hand her notice in to the salon as early as she did. I hadn’t had a chance to discuss everything with Wendy.’