‘According to our records, Miss Shepherd gave the address of a hotel in London. You can have it, if it’s any use to you. I seem to recall that she travelled up by train when we had to meet. Actually, I’ve got a note here that she came up to Derbyshire only once for the viewing. She signed all the papers at her solicitor’s. That was about it, really.’

‘Wouldn’t you need a permanent address, Mr Yates?’

‘No. You might try her solicitors for that, or her bank. She was paying cash, you see.’

‘I see.’

‘The buyer’s solicitors in this case were also in London.’

‘So you just met her the one time?’

‘It seems so. I’m sorry I’m being so vague, but it was nearly a year ago. We deal with quite a number of prospective purchasers in the course of a year. Many of them we see once, or not at all. It’s the vendors we tend to remember – we see much more of them.’

‘What do you remember about Miss Shepherd? Anything, no matter how trivial . . .’

‘You know, I thought the notes in the file might remind me of something, but there was nothing of interest. It was a very straightforward transaction. She had no particular concerns about the property, nothing but the standard checks that her solicitors did during the conveyance. In fact, it was rather an unmemorable sale, apart from the fact that it was a substantial property on our books.’

Cooper showed him a copy of Rose Shepherd’s passport photograph. Neat grey hair and sharp blue eyes. Not the woman he remembered seeing on the floor of her bedroom.

‘Was this the person you dealt with, sir?’

‘Yes, I believe so. As far as I can recall.’

‘Do you know if Miss Shepherd had Bain House redecorated when she moved in?’

Yates looked surprised. ‘I couldn’t tell you. Why?’

‘I was in the house on Tuesday. I saw the sitting room. Off-white and charcoal grey – it seemed out of character, from what little we know of Miss Shepherd. I wouldn’t have thought she cared that much about the place to make design statements.’

‘Oh, that was the previous owners,’ said Yates. ‘They had big plans for the property, but I don’t think they got any further than the sitting room and the bathroom. They ran out of money.’

‘What a shame.’

Yates shrugged. ‘It happens.’

‘So the electric gates and security systems . . . ?’

‘Ah, there was nothing like that. Miss Shepherd must have had it done. Very sensible, too. I would have recommended it, if she’d consulted me.’

They left through the displays of property: prestige homes in one window, compact semis in the other. ‘Image,’ said Hitchens when they were outside. ‘It’s very important to some people, Ben.’

‘Sir?’ said Cooper.

‘Did you notice the photograph of the family on Mr Yates’ desk?’

‘Yes, of course.’