She turned on her side to seek comfort from the warmth of James’s body – only to find that he wasn’t in bed with her. She figured he was still in his study trying to work out how to find the killer terrorising the village.

A sob swelled up inside her and she swallowed it down. She knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. Best she got up, had a drink of something and popped a pill.

She threw back the duvet and hauled herself out of bed. She put on her dressing gown and slippers in the dark and stepped out of the room.

The light from the living room reached up the stairs so she didn’t bother to turn any more on. Once downstairs, she went first to the kitchen to put the kettle on and then to the study to see if James wanted a tea or coffee.

But he wasn’t at his desk, which put a frown on her face. She checked the downstairs loo and then the hallway, but there was no sign of him. While in the hallway she noticed that his coat wasn’t hanging up and his boots weren’t on the floor next to the cupboard. She assumed he’d been called out and hadn’t wanted to wake her up. It was something he’d done before so it didn’t worry her.

She returned to the kitchen, poured herself some tea and took a sleeping pill.

Back in the living room she sat on the sofa to drink it. She was still there ten minutes later when she heard the front door open and close.

‘No need to sneak around, James,’ she called out. ‘I’m down here and wide awake.’

A moment later the living room door was pushed open. Annie stood and prepared to greet her husband with a big welcoming smile and a hug.

But it wasn’t James who entered the room. It was Father Silver. And in his right hand he was holding a large knife.

The smile vanished from Annie’s face and a cold fear hardened in the centre of her stomach.

CHAPTER SEVENTY

When James regained consciousness the pain in his head made him wince. It felt like his brain had exploded and hadn’t yet been put back together.

It took a few seconds for him to remember where he was and what had happened. As he struggled to his feet, he almost passed out again and had to lean against the priest’s desk to stop himself keeling over.

That was when he spotted the Christmas cards and the black marker. He turned instinctively towards the chair on which had rested the overcoat and knife. But they were both gone.

The priest’s words rang in his ears.

After tonight, I will bow out.

‘Shit,’ James said aloud as the magnitude of the situation hit him.

Father Silver had been playing them all along. He was the killer, the monster who had taken the lives of three people in the village.