Gillard trusted Claire’s judgement. Staff issues were one of the most awkward and intractable elements of his job, and he felt much less confident dealing with them than he did with the pure detective work. It was one of the main reasons that he hadn’t yet applied for the vacant post of detective chief superintendent. At that level, people problems crowded out most of the detective workload. He didn’t want to end up a desk jockey like Radar Dobbs.

It was late that evening when Clive Hancock rang Gillard at home. The county archaeologist was bubbling with excitement. ‘We managed to get much more detail about the metal fragment lodged in the man’s neck. I’ve managed to decipher some of the lettering, which confirms that it is a dagger blade, made by one of the most well-known swordsmiths of the late Anglo-Saxon period.’

‘Very good,’ Gillard said, peering at the clock, which showed it was nearly eleven o’clock. ‘I suspect that is much more of archaeological interest than investigative.’

‘Not necessarily. This is not a known item. That means it was not stolen from some museum or collection. It’s a new find.’

‘So what you’re saying is that someone has kept this weapon concealed?’

‘We don’t know when it was found, that’s the trouble. Given that the victim is a modern man, we can assume that the crime took place in recent years, but the big question for me is whether this man was killed over a new archaeological find, or whether the dagger had been found many years or indeed centuries ago and kept concealed.’

‘Well, given that we have seen evidence of detectorists locally, the idea of a fight over ownership of a newly discovered relic is quite enticing,’ Gillard said. ‘However, it would seem to be pointless if, having just discovered how valuable and rare this weapon was, someone was to then damage it by using it on another person.’

‘That’s certainly true. Anyway, when I get back to the lab at Guildford, I’ll send you a selection of X-ray images.’

‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Gillard said, then ended the call.

Chapter Nine

Friday morning saw Gillard take a different tack. He’d been considering getting a magistrate to issue a financial order so he could look into Ozzy Blanchard’s bank account activity, but discovered after ringing Hampshire Constabulary that they already had one, still open after four months. The officer at the Winchester HQ wouldn’t say any more, but asked Gillard to call the SIO for further details. So, reluctantly, Gillard once again rang Stella Anderson to ask her to share what she knew. She had been largely ignoring his calls and emails, but as the phone rang out and he prepared to leave another message, she picked up.

‘What can I help you with, Craig?’