‘Of course you wouldn’t, pet, and if I really thought you’d killed your boss we’d be speaking in the station with a tape running, not here over a nice cup of tea.’ She flashed a smile. ‘I think you did mention tea.’

‘I’ll make it,’ Joe said, knowing that was what Vera wanted. For him to be pottering away with kettle and pots, so that Connie had the sense the conversation was just between the two women. But for him to be keeping his ears open in case he picked up something Vera might have missed. After all, they were a good team.

‘So perhaps it was a coincidence,’ Vera went on. ‘But you’re not on the main road here, and this sort of place people notice strange cars. So I wonder if someone’s having a bit of fun with us. Like playing games, making mischief. Let’s throw a spanner in the works by dumping the bag next to Connie Masters’s cottage. Light the blue touchpaper and see what happens. Because I have the sense that our murderer enjoys playing games. So have you had any visitors lately?’

‘There was that man who called in, asking the way to the Eliot house on the afternoon of Jenny’s death.’

‘So there was,’ Vera said easily. ‘You told Joe here all about him. It didn’t seem very significant at the time, but looking back, it could be. Would you recognize him again if we show you some photos?’

Connie frowned. ‘I’m not sure. So much has happened since then.’

‘Worth a shot though, eh?’ Vera reached out and took the mug Joe handed to her. ‘I’ll send Joe round with a few pictures tomorrow. Was he carrying a bag?’

‘I think so. Not anything smart like a briefcase, but a holdall. Perhaps a rucksack.’

‘Big enough to hold Jenny Lister’s bag?’ Vera asked.

‘Yes.’ This time Connie sounded more certain. ‘If it was empty, it would squash up very small.’

‘Did you see him come and watch him go? Would he have had time to hoy the bag across the burn without you seeing?’

‘I didn’t see him either time,’ Connie said. ‘He just appeared when we came out into the garden. Alice saw him first. Later I went into the house to make him tea, and when I came back outside he’d disappeared. He could have done it before we spoke or after.’

‘You say he was looking for the Eliot house?’

‘Yes. It seemed kind of odd. I mean, if he was a friend of Christopher and Veronica’s, wouldn’t he know where he was going?’

‘Did he seem like a friend?’ Vera asked.

‘No.’ Joe saw Connie hesitate. She was reluctant to commit herself, but in the face of Vera’s barrage of questions she thought she should give an answer.