In the note, Lorna said that she hadn’t told anyone about what happened on that night in the forest. But James wondered if she was lying, or if someone had found out and decided to make her pay. It was stretching it to think that her victim’s parents had tracked her down to Kirkby Abbey. But if they had, then it would mean that someone else had murdered Charlie Jenkins, and James was convinced that wasn’t the case.

‘I’ll send copies of these to Hampshire police,’ he said. ‘They can show them to the girl’s parents. They’ll also have to check that they have an alibi for Sunday night.’

Annie looked up sharply from the cuttings. ‘You don’t honestly believe that the girl’s father or mother would have come here to kill her, do you?’

James shook his head. ‘No, I don’t, but they had motive so will have to be ruled out. I’m sure it won’t take long.’

James saw Annie’s jaw clench, her eyes tighten.

‘I’m really not sure how I feel about Lorna now,’ she said. ‘The person I knew was kind and caring, and great with the children. And I’m sure it’s true that what happened ten years ago was a terrible accident. But she should never have been driving whilst drunk, and leaving the poor girl there was reprehensible. What if she was unconscious and not dead? Maybe paramedics could have saved her if they’d got there quickly enough.’

An hour later, James was suited and booted, and ready to crack on with the investigation.

He was relieved that no one had called to tell him that another body had turned up. But that didn’t mean the killer hadn’t struck for a third time during the night, of course. It could simply be that the victim hadn’t yet been discovered.

He retreated to his study while Annie got herself ready for the day. She had asked him to find out if her uncle had left The King’s Head overnight, so that was the first thing he did when he was behind his desk.

The uniformed officer who was tasked with watching the pub admitted he hadn’t been able to provide continuous surveillance.

‘I needed toilet breaks, sir,’ he said. ‘And at one point I was instructed to check out a report of an intruder in someone’s garden. It turned out to be a fox, though. That was between one and two this morning.’

James was a little annoyed, but not surprised given how few officers had been on duty in the village.

‘Were there any other incidents?’ he asked. ‘Or suspicious activity of any kind?’

‘Nothing at all, sir. It was eerily quiet. A couple of people were stopped just before midnight, and they had a good excuse to be out. But after that the lads didn’t come across anyone. For most of the night the only movement we saw was the snow coming down.’

Next, James called the office and got put through to DS Stevens, who said he had been in since 6 a.m.