‘Is there anything you need?’ he asked her. ‘We can help in any way, and if you’d like to speak to the liaison officer again you only have to give her a call.’

‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘My bar staff have been really good and they’re here for most of the time. I’m hoping to open up again before Christmas. That’s what Charlie would have wanted.’

‘Have you spoken to many of your customers?’

‘A few have popped in and those who haven’t have sent me flowers and cards. I’m surprised at how many people have told me that Charlie was a great guy and that everyone will miss him. Their comments have helped. In fact, I’ve only received one nasty note in a Christmas card.’

‘Who was it from?’

‘No idea. It was put through the door some time yesterday. There was no name on it, but it’s obviously someone who didn’t like him.’

James felt his chest tighten. ‘What did you do with the card, Mrs Jenkins?’

‘I threw it away. Why?’

‘I would like to have seen it.’

‘Well, it’s still in the bin,’ she said.

‘Can you fish it out for me please?’

‘Don’t see why not. It’s downstairs.’

James went down with her and watched as she rummaged in the bin behind the bar. He wasn’t surprised when she pulled out a Twelve Days of Christmas card. Inside, in black marker, was a message:

Your husband was a cheat, Mrs Jenkins.

He deserved to die and you’re better off without him.

Merry Christmas.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

The village hall was still buzzing when James arrived back.

DC Abbott was deep in conversation with the two other detectives who had just arrived, and Lorna Manning’s son, Chris, was in the caretaker’s office with a uniformed officer who was taking down his statement.

James got everyone together for a brief update. He began by showing them the card that had been delivered to The White Hart for Charlie Jenkins’s grieving widow.

After reading out the message inside, James said, ‘No question, it’s from the killer. And once again the bastard makes the point that as far as he’s concerned, Charlie deserved to die. Five of these same cards have now turned up in the village and they’ve all been delivered by the killer himself.

‘We’ll send this to the forensic lab like the others but I doubt it will contain any prints or DNA. The problem we have is that these cards have been on sale in the village store and quite a few people have bought them,’ he said. ‘I saw a bunch of them in Keith Patel’s house. He’s the guy whose mother died a year ago after falling down the stairs in her home. The killer put Lorna’s photo on her grave. When I asked Patel about the cards, he told me he planned to send them out to friends and denied sending one to me. But he was seen close to my house when the parcel was left on my doorstep.