The two constables piled into the Land Rover with van Steenis driving. The ancient diesel roared alarmingly as they headed at excessive speed over a meadow towards a collection of buildings. Van Steenis described how the estate had been rescued in the early 1990s during a property collapse, and when the private school on the site was having financial difficulties. ‘I was recruited in 1995. It’s the best thing I ever did,’ he said. They passed numerous paddocks, and a large newly constructed barn-like building, which van Steenis said would be his herpetology centre. ‘Reptiles and amphibians,’ he said into the puzzled silence. ‘They’re currently housed in the old barn. Juliette looks after them for me. She’s got a PhD in herpetology.’

‘The study of her pets, that’s what it means,’ Cottesloe said, with a wink to Wickens.

They pulled up outside what would have been once a stable block, enclosed within a small paddock. There were two fences, one a chain-link external fence and the other a more substantial inner bulwark of motorway-style crash barriers. ‘This is where the old boy is,’ van Steenis said, getting out and unlocking a door into the stable. The building was dark, and smelled intensely of animal. A heftily barred enclosure gave a view into the main part of the building, where on a bed of straw lay an enormous leathery creature. The rhino’s small dark eyes reflected what little light there was and, having scented the visitors, he blinked and shifted his huge weight.

‘He’s a splendid old fella, aren’t you, Dennis?’

As their eyes became accustomed to the light, the two constables could now see the bandaged right foreleg, and the scarred nose where the horn had been.

‘We have a video camera outside, so that those who helped Crowdfund the rescue can watch him recuperate. Sadly, I think he’s a bit down. He seems to prefer to spend time in here in the dark. Maybe a bit of food will cheer him up.’ Van Steenis took a bucket from the wall and filled it with some kind of dry food from a sack. ‘Rhinos in captivity don’t need much extra food if they can forage, though Dennis has put on a lot of weight because of his mobility difficulties. But he’s always glad to see me, aren’t you Dennis?’ He jangled his keys. At the sound of the iron gate being unlocked, the huge animal rose ponderously to his massive feet, snorting enthusiastically. Van Steenis slipped into the enclosure, immediately closing the gate behind him. He wafted the bucket under Dennis’s snout and patted the beast vigorously on his huge leathery flank. ‘Who’s a good boy then?’