‘When was the last time you saw her?’ DC Abbott asked.

‘That was back in the summer when she came to stay with us for a few days during the school holidays. But we talked on the phone at least once a week. In fact, the last time was on Sunday evening, only a few hours before—’

His eyes flared with emotion suddenly and he drew in a sharp breath and held it for several seconds. When he started to speak again, his voice shuddered.

‘She called to tell me about the man who was murdered in the field. She said she would have phoned earlier but she had a visitor and had to wait until he’d left.’

‘Do you know who the visitor was?’ James asked.

Drake nodded. ‘A bloke named Giles Keegan. She reckoned he was smitten with her.’

‘And was she very fond of him?’

‘I think so. They’d known each other for quite a while and she said it was good to go on a date again after so long.’

‘I’ve spoken to Mr Keegan and he told me that he saw your mum on Sunday,’ James said. ‘They were attending the carol singing together in the square when the man’s body was discovered. Keegan went to her house later in the afternoon to see if she was all right. He also told me that he really liked her and was hoping they might have a long-term relationship.’

‘I gather she liked him too, but I’m not convinced it would have come to anything serious. On Sunday she said she’d had to tell him to go because he was getting on her nerves. She pretended she had some school work to do.’

‘Did she say what he was saying or doing that was grating on her?’ James asked.

‘Well, as you probably know, he’s a retired detective. According to Mum all he ever talked about was how nobody is safe any more, even in places like this. He complained about the breakdown of law and order and said he was sick of seeing so many criminals escape justice. He even told her that there were some people in this village who should be behind bars. And he’s right, isn’t he? It was probably one of the bastards who murdered my mum.’

He started to cry then, great wracking sobs that shook his entire body.

Father Silver put an arm around Drake’s shoulders and DC Abbott got up, took a tissue from her pocket, and handed it to him.

But James remained seated, his mind whirring from what Drake had said about Giles Keegan.

Had the man really told Lorna Manning that there were people in the village who should be locked up and that he was sick of seeing criminals escape justice?

In themselves the remarks didn’t amount to much and could not be taken as evidence that Giles Keegan was a murdering psycho. But in the context of what was going on in Kirkby Abbey, they did suggest to James that he needed to have another word with the ex-police officer.