‘Fellows has worked for the family for twelve years. He was denied custody of his daughter, based on the mother dragging up his termination from the police, and she’s in foster care in London. He hasn’t been allowed to see her for four years. The mother died of a heroin overdose in 2015. The girl is fifteen.’

‘And just like that another poor sod is orphaned,’ Dan said. ‘What was an ex-copper doing with a heroin addict?’

‘Maybe he thought he could get her off it,’ Kelly said. ‘We have to narrow down our inquiry to who we know for sure was on site at Laurie Fell. They are, to our knowledge, the only people who had access to the sheds adjacent to the hangared helicopter on Sunday night. So we have Lord Reilly, Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig and the pilots, and we can rule them out. Murder–suicide is a real threat but not in this case, I don’t think. That leaves Nellie Lowther, the two schoolgirls, and George Fellows. It’s also feasible that Paul Edderbridge could have taken that stolen boat to Laurie Fell and dumped it back at Pooley Bridge before returning to his girlfriend’s pad to beat her up and spend the night in here. They’re our options,’ she said.

The room fell silent. The obvious choice was Paul Edderbridge, of course, but they had to prove he was there beyond reasonable doubt, and they had to find George Fellows and the two schoolgirls.

‘It’s obvious that somebody with George Fellows’s past connections and skills, as well as having an axe to grind and a critical weakness, might be in the family’s pocket. It’s just a theory, but it’s become obvious to me that the whole climate activist theory is a red herring. The true perpetrator is much closer to the family,’ she said.

Chapter 52

The drive over to the Penrith and Lakes was short. Kelly could have walked, but even in the snow it was quicker to queue in traffic. A light covering of snow was settling on the streets and the temperature gauge hadn’t changed. The sky was a moody grey and the hills in the distance were fat with snow, like iced fairy cakes. She’d taken another dose of tablets, and the two coffees she’d had already were keeping her going. Kennedy-Craig had got permission to land on the rooftop helipad. She wondered how he’d managed that, but at the same time knew that money bought everything, especially privilege. Rob had worked out Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig’s net worth when he died; after the shares in Tactika had recovered yesterday afternoon following an article about the company’s philanthropic work around the world, his estate was worth 17 billion dollars.