Stewie laughed. ‘Yes.’

‘Oh don’t be so silly,’ Sheila said. ‘That plastic handle doesn’t belong on that rusty old thing. Aren’t you going to show him your collection of coins?’ She prodded her finger into the box and picked up a greenish corroded disc.

Hancock ignored the coin, but hefted the corroded item, gradually easing off the plastic handle. It revealed an eight-inch-long rusty metal tool, narrowing from a shank where a handle would have fitted down to a jagged broken tip.

‘I think we have something very exciting here,’ he said. ‘Where did you find it?’

Stewie suddenly looked extremely shifty. ‘I swapped it for some soldiers.’

‘Soldiers?’

‘Plastic figures,’ Sheila intervened. ‘With Callum. It must’ve been a couple of years ago now,’ she said.

‘I’d just like to borrow this for a few hours, if I may. It could be quite valuable,’

‘Ooh, isn’t that exciting, Stewie? What you think it could be?’ Sheila turned to the archaeologist. ‘Is it a Victorian tool of some kind?’

‘No, I’m pretty sure it’s not Victorian. It’s much older than that.’

Hancock called Rowena Willow over. ‘Would you be kind enough to hold the fort for a while? I have to nip off to the college.’

‘How long will you be?’ she asked.

‘A couple of hours, probably.’

‘But what about all the people waiting to see you? They’ve all brought their finds.’

‘I’ve something even more important to do, and I’m sure you’ll do an excellent job here,’ he said.

It was early on Saturday evening when Gillard was called at home by Dr Hancock.

‘I’ve got some very exciting news for you. I’ve found the murder weapon used on the buried body.’

‘Where?’

‘Stewie Ransome brought it in. He had a biscuit tin full of old rusting junk. It turns out that he has been in possession of an Anglo-Saxon dagger, minus its pommel. He’d jammed the hilt into a modern plastic handle from a Star Wars toy, so it could be grasped. The blade is broken in exactly the same place as the jagged piece found in the neck of our murder victim. I’ve X-rayed the item, and it matches the Biorthelm style.’

‘Have you been handling it?’

‘In gloves, but yes.’

‘We need to get it checked out for fingerprints and DNA,’ Gillard said. ‘Please bring it in to your nearest police station.’

‘I’d like to hold on to it for a couple more days, as there are some additional tests I’d like to do.’

‘The archaeology can wait, this is a murder inquiry.’

‘I would be very surprised if there are any fingerprints apart from Stewie’s.’

‘Nevertheless, I need it tested.’

‘All right then.’ Dr Hancock sounded crestfallen.