She looked angry now. ‘You look at their website, and it’s all environment, pictures of happy kids drinking glasses of water in sunlit meadows. Meanwhile, underneath it all they have allowed thousands of tons of human excrement on the quiet into the river, and onto our land. The private equity owners have taken hundreds of millions in dividends, siphoning away cash that was intended to be spent on repairs.’

‘I appreciate your frustration, madam—’ Gillard restarted the car, desperate to get away from this conversation.

‘You’re just like the rest of them,’ she said. ‘You don’t want to get to the truth. I can tell you, there is an awful lot hidden by that company. If you ever want to find out about it, come to me.’ She slapped the roof of the car heavily. Gillard said goodbye, put the Vauxhall in gear and slid the car away. In the mirror he could see her son, emerging from the cottage. They embraced, looked towards Gillard’s receding car, then she led him back inside.

Gillard found the operator of the excavator at the Anvil Arms, which she ran with her partner Guy Naylor. Vicky Willow was a robust-looking woman in her mid-thirties, about five foot nine with a shock of dark wavy hair and a handsome face. She had a baby on her hip as she showed the detective into the deserted lounge, where one large table was devoted to a large scale model re-enactment of a medieval siege, with dozens of carefully painted metal figurines gathered round a plastic castle. After passing the child to her partner, who looked old enough to be her father, she sat opposite Gillard at the far end of an adjacent table. Above them, traditional horse brasses, horse collars, and various rural paraphernalia hung amongst the darkened beams. In a back room, a child could be heard running around. ‘Sorry about the mess,’ she said, indicating the wargame table. ‘Half of them end up on the floor. I’ve vacuumed up more of Callum’s soldiers than you can imagine.’

‘So you run this place as well as operating a JCB?’ Gillard said.

‘Well, seeing as I’m still on furlough at the pub I took the opportunity to keep myself occupied. I’ve got a small stable across behind the Tickett place, and the pandemic has done for that as well. We had to keep ourselves going until pubs reopen on Saturday.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Phew, there’s so much still to do.’

‘And I understand it was your first week on the excavator?’

‘Yes. I was brought up on a farm, so can drive a tractor, a tele lifter, a truck up to the HGV limit, and am pretty good with trailers. I’ve worked a basic JCB, but the twenty-two tonner is a bit of a step up. It’s always nice to have a new skill. Aidan showed me.’