The two detectives went through the formality of showing their warrant cards before Daniel waved them inside.

‘My dad’s in the living room so go straight through,’ he said. ‘Is there anything I can get you? Tea or coffee, or perhaps something stronger? We have beer and wine.’

He had a soft voice and a pleasant, polite manner, and he struck James as the kind of bloke who would find it easy to charm the ladies, especially those who were young and vulnerable.

‘Thank you, but we’ll pass,’ James said. ‘This is not a social call, and I’m hoping we won’t take up much of your time.’

James felt his neck grow hot under his collar as he walked along the hallway. He had to remind himself to treat Daniel Curtis like any other interviewee. But he knew that was going to be difficult as an image of a young Annie making love to the guy rose unbidden in his mind.

He wished now that she had never told him about that phase of her life. But she had, and so he needed to resist the urge to bring it up and tell Daniel Curtis what he thought of him.

Ron was in the same armchair he’d sat in during James’s last visit. Stevens introduced himself and the old man grunted a response and flicked a hand towards the sofa.

They both sat down and James opened up his notebook. Daniel lowered himself onto the other armchair and said, ‘Before you start asking your questions, you should know that I’ve been in touch with my solicitor who has advised me not to talk to you without him being present. But I agreed to because this is a nasty business and I want to be as helpful as I can. You need to be honest with me from the outset, though. Do you guys actually suspect me of killing Charlie Jenkins?’

‘Everyone in this village is a suspect right now, Mr Curtis,’ James said. ‘We’re going through the process of eliminating a number of individuals from our enquiries. You’re one of those people because only a matter of hours before Mr Jenkins was killed, he came here and threatened your father for spreading gossip about an extra-marital affair he had with Janet Dyer. You were naturally very angry and told your father that you would go to The White Hart to confront Mr Jenkins.’

‘And I had every intention of doing so,’ Daniel said. ‘But when Dad phoned me, I was in Keswick and didn’t get back until Sunday evening, by which time Charlie was dead.’

‘That’s how we understand it,’ James said. ‘But obviously we need confirmation of that. So I would like you to provide a detailed account of your movements on Saturday and Sunday. Where did you go and who did you come into contact with? You’ll have to be specific in respect of times, locations and names.’

Daniel responded with a wide, smug grin that took James by surprise.