‘They noticed that too. Willie said he’d some problem with his circulation.’

A smile was spreading across Clare’s face. ‘Okay, bear with me, guys, while I work this out.’ She was silent for a moment then went on. ‘Let’s assume this homeless guy, Willie, is our gunman, yeah?’

The response wasn’t encouraging but she pressed on. ‘If no one’s actually seen inside the guitar case, he could have anything in there.’

‘Like a rifle,’ Bill said.

‘Exactly. So, let’s say, he plans to shoot Russell Fox.’

‘Motive?’ Chris asked.

‘Dunno. Maybe he’s a gun-for-hire.’

‘Okay,’ Chris said. ‘Go on.’

‘He makes his way to the Lodge, climbs the fence and sneaks inside the house. Then he goes up to the top floor looking for the best view of the treetop walk. He beds down for a few hours then, early next morning, he sees Russell on the walkway. He shoots him, puts the gun back in the guitar case and slips out of the house. He heads for Doubledykes Road where he knows Zac will be waiting and stops to ask for a fag. Maybe thinks if he chats for long enough, anyone passing will remember Zac. Don’t forget, Zac’s long-standing grudge against Russell – he’s the perfect fall-guy.’

She looked round at them but no one spoke. Even Tony, perched on a desk near the door, was frowning. ‘What’s with the gloves?’ he said. ‘Why’s that relevant?’

‘Gaby Fox has a condition called Raynaud’s syndrome.’

‘The cold hands thing?’ Bill asked, and Clare nodded.

‘We need to know if it runs in families,’ Clare said. ‘Could someone…’

Sara was scrolling on her phone. ‘Says here there’s a 30 per cent chance of having Raynaud’s if a close relative also has it.’

‘So, it’s a connection,’ Clare said. ‘We can’t ignore it.’

Chris shook his head. ‘But how would a homeless guy be connected to the Foxes?’

She spread her hands. ‘I don’t know yet but I’m sure that lot are keeping something back.’

‘So…’ Chris said, slowly, ‘let me get this straight. You reckon this guy Willie was the same one Zac gave a fag to, that he knew his way round the house and grounds because he’d worked there a couple of weeks before. He set Zac up to be a suspect in the shooting of Russell Fox and he had… the gun in his guitar case?’

When she heard it out loud, Clare realised how lame it sounded. ‘I think…’ she began, ‘this Willie, if that’s his real name, that he could turn out to be a close relative of Gaby and Russell’s and, yes, that he shot Russell and tried to frame Zac.’ She ran a hand through her hair. ‘Look, I get that it sounds unlikely, but I’m convinced our homeless guy’s the link.’