‘Not so difficult, actually. They could have put a camera in a parked car, with a feed into a house or van just down the road. Technology’s amazing nowadays, you know. There could have been some sort of tracker on the woman who was killed, so they knew which room she was in. Almost anything’s possible.’

She stared at him. ‘How do you know all that?’

‘It’s common knowledge. And I know people who use cameras like that. Neighbourhood disputes are fertile ground for all that sort of thing. And then there are the drones. You can put a camera on them, as well.’

‘Surely not in the Cotswolds?’ She hated to think of it.

‘Why not? There’s a man round the corner from me who’s got three separate cameras on his house, with a bank of monitors in his spare room. He sees everything that goes on within at least a quarter of a mile. The cameras can be swivelled by remote control. And he’s just an ordinary Joe Bloggs with an obsession about his marrows.’

‘You’re joking,’ she accused.

‘Marrows, pumpkins and prize tomatoes. It sounds like a joke, I know, but it’s deadly serious – and not even very original.’

‘Blimey,’ said Thea faintly.

‘So, you see, it would be easy enough for your killer to grab his chance the minute you went out. He probably knew already that the back door was missing.’

Thea waved her fork at him. ‘Actually, the back was quite well barricaded. It was the front that I didn’t bother to lock.’183

He laughed. ‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’

She found herself smarting at this. ‘What do you mean? You can’t possibly think you know me well enough to say a thing like that.’

‘I’m sorry. Was that rude of me? I meant it to sound approving, as a matter of fact. The thing is, my mother really took to you, and said you were a kindred spirit. She never locks anything, either. She just … recognised you, I suppose.’

‘Hmm,’ said Thea, wondering whether everyone found her as transparent as Clovis and his family seemed to.

‘Anyway, let’s stick to the point. I presume it wouldn’t take long to search the house for the woman, even if there wasn’t a tracker on her somewhere. As for knowing where the pressure points are, that does imply some kind of medical training. It’s not as easy as people think.’

‘I don’t think it’s easy,’ muttered Thea. She found herself thinking of a strangled child in the village of Snowshill, where there had been nothing very subtle about the attack. ‘And how do you know whether it’s easy or not?’

He grimaced. ‘I don’t really. I’m not claiming to have any direct experience, if that’s worrying you.’

She merely shook her head at that, and they finished the final morsels of their lunch. ‘I’m having another beer,’ said Clovis defiantly.

‘Go ahead,’ she shrugged. ‘With your body weight, you’ll be fine. With me, a pint’s probably enough to put me over the limit.’184