The detective constable apologised, and began to use the paper bag his lunch had come in to wipe the screen. The bag was already translucent with grease, and it only made things worse.

‘Clean it properly before you go home,’ Gillard said.

His mobile went, and he turned away to take the call. The caller identified herself as Sheila Ransome. He recalled she had earlier buttonholed him in the car about the supposed crimes of the water company.

‘How did you get this number?’ he asked her.

‘I borrowed the business card you gave to the archaeologist.’

‘Did you indeed?’ Gillard made a mental note to have a word with Clive Hancock about making free and easy with contact details as well as facts about the case. Mrs Ransome was undoubtedly a capable and determined campaigner, which was even more reason that she should not know how to get hold of him. Still, it was too late now. ‘How can I help?’

‘I just want to report what I saw last week, which may have some bearing on your case.’

‘Go on then,’ he said, with a due sense of dread.

‘I saw this man skulking around the village at night. A stranger, large with a bald head. I’d heard that someone was trespassing around the crime scene. I wondered if it might be the same man.’

Gillard returned to his desk and grabbed a notepad and pen as the woman continued her tale.

‘It was about nine p.m. last Thursday. I was at the church, locking up after evensong. And I saw this man in a suit walk past, climb over the gate into the meadow and on towards the river.’

‘What did he look like?’

‘Medium height, solid build, fiftyish and bald.’

‘Was he carrying anything?’ Gillard was thinking of the reports of the detectorist, and of the man in the Nissan.

‘No.’

He thanked the woman, and asked her to use the main number to report any further details, before hanging up.

Desperate to get out of the office and stay away from Radar Dobbs, Gillard returned to Rissington Common. He was getting frustrated at the slow pace of the forensic tests, but until he knew who the dead man was, most other investigative leads risked being dead ends. Still, some dead ends are more pleasant than others, and Bourne Lane, Rissington Common fell into that category.