‘It could be an Anglo-Saxon burial site, there are quite a lot of them around here. Of course it could also be that fellow who drove his car off the bridge back in the winter.’

‘Are you referring to Ozzy Blanchard?’

‘Yes, everyone thought he survived because there was no body found in the car. But it could be him, couldn’t it? Seeing as he used to work for this lot.’ She indicated the construction site with a thumb.

‘You mean Aqua Western?’

‘Yes. I crossed swords with the man on numerous occasions. Slippery fellow though he was, I preferred him to the new one, Collier, who is just plain obstructive.’

Gillard made a mental note to look into the relationship between the village community and the water company.

‘My name is Sheila Ransome,’ she said, offering a delicate hand through the window. Gillard leaned back and offered his elbow in exchange, which she squeezed in an overly-familiar fashion.

‘I’ve just met Stewie,’ Gillard said.

She beamed. ‘He’s everyone’s friend.’

‘Lovely man. I hear you’re a bit of a demon at Cluedo.’

‘He’s obsessed with the game,’ she said, with a smile. ‘He’d play it all day every day if he could. He’s thirty-one now, and I worry what will happen to him after I’m gone.’

‘I’m sure that won’t be for many years.’

She peered into the distance. ‘And I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied in the meantime. I’m leading the legal campaign to bring Aqua Western to book over all the pollution here. It’s made our lives a misery, and we can’t sell our homes.’

‘I’d heard something about that,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you’d be good enough to stand back a little, in the interests of social distancing.’

She moved back, but soon closed in again. ‘I’ve spent years accumulating legal ammunition against them. I’m happy to share my evidence—’

‘That would be a civil matter, I’m afraid. I know it must be frustrating, but the police really can’t get involved.’

‘No, that’s not true, I have incontrovertible evidence that they have committed criminal offences. If you give me your email address I will send on some of the most relevant pieces—’

‘I’m really sorry, madam. There is a dead body by the river, and my job is to investigate that. If Aqua Western has breached statutory rules in some way, there are other organisations such as the National Rivers Authority, the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive—’