‘I’ll give it another hour or so and call the lab,’ he said. ‘They promised to prioritise the tests. Then I’ll check with the boss to see what he thinks the next step should be.’

The hour passed quickly enough. By eight thirty, they were both showered and dressed and having a cereal breakfast at the kitchen table. Outside, a light snow had begun to fall, but it seemed like the wind had dropped.

In the end, James didn’t have to put in a call to the lab because one of the technicians phoned him. But the news was disappointing. The only prints found on the box, the wrapping paper, clingfilm and card belonged to him. And the initial examination indicated that there was no DNA trace evidence on any of the objects.

‘As for the partridge, I can confirm that it was a hen,’ the technician said. ‘And it had been stabbed it the stomach. We estimate that it was killed at some point in the past twenty-four to thirty-six hours.’

After hanging up with the lab, James phoned DCI Tanner at home to tell him the results.

‘I can’t say I’m surprised,’ Tanner said. ‘Whoever did it would have made sure to cover their tracks.’

James told him how Annie had spotted one of the villagers heading towards their house around the time the parcel was dumped on the doorstep.

‘It’s a tenuous link at best,’ Tanner said. ‘I’m sure there would have been other people she didn’t see. But I suppose it’s worth having a chat with him. And you could try to find out if the type of wrapping paper and card that was used can be purchased locally.’

‘Leave it with me, guv,’ James said. ‘Meanwhile, I’m not ruling out Andrew Sullivan. I’ve asked a former colleague in the Met to check what he’s up to for me.’

Tanner was one of the few officers in the Cumbria Constabulary who knew about the brick incident and the threats James had received from Sullivan in the past.

‘At this stage let’s keep everything low key,’ the DCI said. ‘My money is on it being a reckless hoax and if I’m right I don’t want us to assign people to it who would be more usefully deployed elsewhere. Severe weather is now being predicted for the week ahead and that could mean massive pressure on our resources.’

James came off the phone and told Annie what Tanner had said. She was about to respond when her own phone rang. Annie answered it and smiled when she heard the caller’s voice. But it was quickly replaced by a frown. She mumbled a couple of times to whoever was on the line, then looked across the table at James.

‘He’s with me now,’ she said into the phone. ‘Of course. Bear with me and I’ll put him on.’

As Annie handed her phone to her husband, she said, ‘It’s Father Silver at St John’s. He’s called me because I gave him my number a few weeks ago. But it’s you he wants to speak to. He says he thinks it’s a police matter.’