‘We’re keeping an open mind until we have conclusive proof,’ Gillard said, hoping that Mrs Ransome’s comment was a leap from what had appeared in the newspapers rather than yet more inside information leaked by Clive Hancock.

‘Oh, I thought you had proof. Well, I would be relieved if he is alive, naturally. Also because I have to say he was a rather sympathetic man compared to the others I’ve spoken to. When I described to him the pollution we suffered…’

‘And when exactly was this?’

‘I have it precisely in my notes on the computer, inside, just bear with me while I print them out.’

‘No need for that at this stage, if you can tell me roughly.’

‘Well I would say that I first met him three or four years ago. He rang me up, we walked around the village together, and he talked about what could be done to relieve the problems about the sewer overflows. He seemed quite knowledgeable. He came along to a village meeting just over two years ago, and I suppose he told us what we wanted to hear.’

‘Are you saying that he misled you?’

‘Yes. Or perhaps he promised something that he was later unable to deliver.’ She eyed him shrewdly. ‘I know how these corporate organisations work. If they meet fierce and determined opposition they promise you the earth, and then short-change you at the last minute. My campaign was just something for them to manage. I don’t think they ever had the intention of spending the kind of money required to fix the problem. Ozzy rather gave the game away when he said the water company had a formula for dealing with floods. That is, the capital the company would spend was always directed to where the most number of households or consumers would benefit. And right here, there are only sixty people affected by the pollution of this land. The bottom edge of the village basically, Bourne Lane down to the river, and of course the bottom third of the Willow family farm. So what would happen is that every year some more urgent task would come up for the remedial money they had available to spend, and it would go elsewhere. We would always be left waiting.’

‘So what exactly did they do?’

‘Well, Ozzy kept talking about phase one, this all-singing all-dancing system. And they employed the Ticketts of all people to work on it. There were plenty of diggers and pipes and all those things, but they have only recently found out that it’s only a small fraction of what they should have done. They laid some sections of new sewer but lots of it remains unfinished.’

‘When did you discover this?’