He wrote down some notes and while doing so he checked the time. It had only just turned 10 p.m.

Why wait until morning? He suddenly asked himself. I won’t be able to sleep anyway, with this playing on my mind.

Without giving it any further thought, he went upstairs to see if Annie was still awake, but she wasn’t. And he saw no need to disturb her.

Back downstairs, he put on his coat and boots, and picked up his keys, his phone and Lorna’s diary.

Then he let himself out of the house and headed for the rectory in the hope that Father Silver was still up and would be willing to answer some questions.

The evening was dark and oppressive. It was still blowing a gale, but the snow was less heavy.

James huffed out clouds of breath as he trudged through the village. There was no one else on the streets and he was disappointed not to spot a uniformed officer or patrol car.

It took him ten minutes to reach the rectory and when he got there he saw that there were no lights on inside. He thought briefly about turning back, but then decided not to and rang the doorbell. Once, twice, three times.

Nobody answered and he recalled what Father Silver had said about being a heavy sleeper. Or perhaps he was afraid to come to the door so late in the evening. James looked up at the windows, but none of the curtains moved.

He turned around to retrace his steps along the path and that was when he noticed that his weren’t the only footprints in the snow. There was another set leading away from the front door and out onto the road. The fact that they hadn’t already been covered by the snow surely meant that they hadn’t been there very long.

James saw that the prints crossed the road in the direction of the church. Did they belong to the priest? he asked himself. Or had someone else left the rectory shortly before James arrived?

Panic seized his chest suddenly as he realised that he might well be following the tracks of the killer. Had the priest become victim number four? Was he now lying dead in his own home as the killer made off into the night?

It was a startling possibility and one that James decided he could not ignore. He broke into a run and followed the footprints, which led him along the pavement and through the gate into the churchyard. From there, they went all the way up to the church entrance.

James’s stomach was pitching and rolling as he hurried along the path and into the front porch, where the footprints ended. He pushed at the heavy door and to his surprise it opened.

He stepped inside the church and felt the darkness close in around him. But there was a glimmer of light at the far end, to the right of the altar. James recalled that that was where Father Silver’s office was situated.