‘I’m not sure I ever quite got the hang of that,’ she admitted with a laugh.

‘And this time it’s all a bit too close to home for comfort. It never even crossed my mind,’ he burst out. ‘What’s my mother going to say if I turn out to be the one who landed one of my uncles with a murder rap?’

‘Still jumping ahead,’ she cautioned him. ‘We’re not there yet, by a long way.’

They spent the next ten minutes on their respective mobiles. Thea called Cirencester and left a message with a person who sounded about fifteen, for whoever was in charge of the Barnsley murder enquiry. ‘The identity of the victim is Karen Alison Wheelwright,’ she said unambiguously. ‘She has a partner called Grace Berensen, living in Banbury.’ There followed a string of bemused 310questions, which she did her best to answer, until she heard herself saying, ‘It’s all there on the computer! Find it for yourself,’ and cutting the call. ‘There! I called them,’ she told Ben. ‘Satisfied?’

‘Send a text to your Gladwin person as well,’ he advised. ‘Belt and braces.’

‘And Barkley. Don’t forget Barkley.’

‘I don’t know who that is.’

‘She’s a very bright detective sergeant. You’d like her.’

‘Good,’ he said, without looking up.

Thea went into the shiny new kitchen and made two mugs of tea. Her brain was whirling with theories, names, images, while her emotions were equally tangled. Guilt towards Drew combined with embarrassed bewilderment about Clovis, and minor nagging worries about Jessica and Hepzie. There was still no clear path through any of it.

But Ben was miraculous in his capabilities. He was making it all look so easy, and yet the police clearly had been dragging far behind him. Something as simple as transposing the two sets of initials on the wedding ring had unlocked the mystery within moments. Thea was tempted to simply sit back and enjoy watching him at work.

As he sipped his tea, he shared his latest findings. ‘I went onto the Wheelwright family website – the one that’s only open to family members. I’ve found Karen’s dad – he was called Simon and he died six months ago. That could be the answer to the “Why now?” question, actually. I’m very much afraid it does all hinge on this inheritance business. 311If I’ve followed it properly, then Karen’s grandfather must have been Gwen’s brother. The whole gang of them are descended from Great-Granddad, including this Karen, my mother, even Auntie Norma, through her mother somehow.’ Again he chewed the pencil. ‘She’s always been around, in and out of the Jacksons’ houses. But if I remember rightly, they’ve been neighbours for ever, very tight-knit. There was some sort of disgrace somewhere in her background. Something that was hushed up.’

‘And that’s not on the website?’

‘Definitely not. She’d never have allowed that.’

Again, Thea’s mind began to whirr. Did Karen know about the ‘disgrace’? Had she been threatening to make it public? Or what? She wanted to ask Ben, but he looked as if he could do with a break. ‘Should we pack it in for now?’ she asked him. ‘Let the police take it from here.’