Clare nodded. ‘See if you can hurry them up, Chris, and get the whole household checked while you’re at it. I’ll call SOCO then we’re going to track down that pizza driver.’

Bella Pizza was busy with Sunday afternoon diners, the air thick with mouth-watering aromas. There was a small queue for a table, but Clare side-stepped this and showed her badge to a man in dark trousers and a white shirt. The manager, she guessed. He drew them over to the side, away from the queue of customers and explained both delivery drivers were out on jobs.

‘Should be back in the next twenty minutes,’ he said. He glanced across to the kitchen, its front open to the restaurant. ‘I can squeeze you onto a table if you’d like to wait.’

Chris turned puppy dog eyes on Clare but she ignored this. ‘We’ll wait outside,’ she said, smiling her thanks.

Chris followed her out. ‘Not even a slice of pizza?’

‘If we wait out here we’ll catch the driver before the head waiter can warn him we’re looking for him.’

‘Suppose.’

‘Anyway, it’s a lovely day.’

They found a sunny spot to the side of the restaurant and leaned against the stone wall, feeling it warm in the sun. A steady stream of holidaymakers ambled past, some licking ice creams, others dodging cars as they spilled off the pavements onto the cobbled street. Somewhere in the distance a guitarist was strumming a Joni Mitchell song. Clare closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sun. It all felt a million miles away from the events at Lamond Lodge.

‘Here comes one of them,’ Chris said, as a van emblazoned with Bella Pizza pulled into one of the parking bays outside the restaurant.

The driver confirmed his name as Ross Gilfeather and admitted he’d delivered an order to Lamond Lodge on Friday night. ‘About seven, I think,’ he said.

‘Who did you see?’ Clare asked.

Ross crinkled his brow. ‘Dunno. Just a bloke. Beard, I think.’

Clare nodded. Probably Doug Gerrard.

‘Then he shouted to someone else to come and help,’ Ross went on. ‘It was a pretty big order. Must have been having a party.’

‘Did you see anyone else?’ Clare asked.

Ross shook his head. ‘No. He just told me to put the boxes down and they’d carry them in.’

‘And that’s it?’

‘Yeah. I had another two deliveries waiting for me back at the restaurant so I wasn’t hanging about.’

‘Did you see anyone else at all?’ Chris asked.

‘Nope. Well, the guy on the gate, of course.’

‘No one hanging about at the road?’ Chris persisted. ‘Anyone near the drive?’

Ross shrugged. ‘Sorry, no. Look, what’s this about?’

Clare said, ‘We’re investigating the death of one of the occupants.’

Ross stared. ‘Seriously? Someb’dy died?’