Abbott then told James that the officers had carried out a quick search of the house and nothing suspicious had turned up.

She pointed to a small pile of cards on the counter, all with the Twelve Days of Christmas design.

‘Those were on display,’ she said. ‘And there are a few more out back.’

King was clearly puzzled. ‘I remember you asked about those when you came here on Saturday,’ he said to James. ‘What’s so special about them?’

‘Those same cards have been delivered anonymously to several homes in the village,’ James said. ‘And they contained malicious messages.’

‘That’s not my doing. I just sell them, and as I told you before, I don’t keep details of exactly who bought them.’

James said that they might need to talk to him again, but added, ‘I’m satisfied that what you’ve told us is the truth, Mr King. We will be asking Mr and Mrs Wilson to confirm that you were at their party on Saturday, but that’s just a formality. And rest assured that I see no reason to mention any of this to your wife. Your secret is safe for now.’

After leaving the store, James asked one of the uniforms to go and speak to the Wilsons.

‘Ask about the party and get a list of who else was there,’ he said. ‘Tell them it’s just a routine enquiry and don’t mention Peter King by name.’

James and DC Abbott then climbed into the patrol car and he told the driver to take them to Lorna Manning’s house in Willow Road.

‘I want to see if the SOCOs have found anything more of interest,’ he said.

On the way there Abbott lamented the fact that over two hours had been wasted.

‘Not entirely,’ James said. ‘I’ve learned that this village has more than its share of sordid little secrets. It exudes charm on the outside, but scratch the surface and smelly pus seeps out.’

Abbott laughed. ‘Are you wishing that you had never moved here, guv?’

He looked at her and managed a flat smile. ‘I think the jury is still out on that one, Detective.’

‘Well, for what it’s worth, me and the rest of the team are hoping you’ll stick with it. And that includes DS Stevens, even though he doesn’t make it obvious. We value your experience and like your approach. And we’re glad that you’re here to help us with this.’

James was touched as well as surprised.

‘All I can say is that I hope I don’t let you down,’ he said.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Lorna Manning’s house was still taped off and a police officer in a high-vis jacket manned the front gate. He approached James as soon as he climbed out of the patrol car.

‘You might like to know, sir, that the victim’s son arrived here just a few minutes ago,’ he said. ‘I explained that he couldn’t enter the house until the forensics team had finished up.’

The officer was holding a business card which he handed over to James.