‘I would have appreciated you introducing yourself as being on the case when it crosses with mine, Ray. I need to know who else is sniffing around Rissington Common. Your presence has been noted by the locals. Now I see who’s employing you, it all makes a little more sense.’

The receptionist was staring at them, and two phones at her desk were softly ringing, unanswered.

‘I’m not obliged to tell you my business, which is client-confidential,’ Slater said.

‘That’s all right, I think I can figure it out. Aqua Western was trying to find Ozzy Blanchard, as were we.’

‘So the body is his? Judging by your use of the past tense.’

‘We’ll confirm it when we’re absolutely sure. I assume he must’ve been on the make, and the company doesn’t want to let the cat out of the bag.’

‘I really can’t comment,’ Slater said weakly, his eyes sliding across to the receptionist, who was clearly entranced by this confrontation.

Friday night traffic was nowhere near as bad as it had been in pre-pandemic times, and Gillard got back to Mount Browne just before five. With so many officers opting to work from home, the CID floor was sparsely occupied. DC Rainy Macintosh, who had been asked to look in more detail at the Tickett family, was sitting disconsolately at a screen absentmindedly rubbing her knee. Still painful, Gillard thought. ‘What have you got for me?’

‘Och, a fair bit. Typhoon Tickett has been driving all over the place in that Audi,’ she said. ‘The family construction firm has three sites across Hampshire and Surrey, and most of the ANPR hits seem to reflect that kind of travel on a typical builders’ early-start, early-finish schedule. But he’s also made lots of journeys further afield, almost always in the evening. Aye, and he has a tidy wee house in Haslemere.’ She flashed up some estate agent details and pictures, which showed the same five-bedroom detached home Gillard had driven past. The listing particulars mentioned three acres of paddocks. ‘It looks like the laddie paid £1.5 million for it, and that was a few years ago.’

‘Yes, I glimpsed it when I was following him. That would have coincided with his European title contests,’ Gillard said. ‘That’s unlikely to be incriminating in itself. What about Aidan?’

‘He’s got a tidy place in Upper Rissington, only two miles away from Daddy. Three bedrooms, and there’s planning permission for a fourth and an indoor swimming pool, would you believe.’

‘Interesting. He must have come into some money, just like his younger brother.’

‘I’ve been trying to tie in some dates on this,’ Rainy said. ‘The planning application for the pool went in two years ago, April 2018. That same month, Rory Tickett registered the purchase of an Aston Martin DB11. That costs a minimum of £150,000.’