‘I didn’t know that,’ Annie said. ‘But there’s a lot I don’t know about Mum’s life after I left here.’

James showed Annie the cards he’d got at the store and explained why it’d be impossible to find out who else had bought them.

‘But I think it’s safe to say that the person who delivered the cards to me and Father Silver got them here in Kirkby Abbey,’ he said. ‘So it’s possible that it’s someone we know.’

They were interrupted by the arrival of the soups, after which Annie imparted some surprising news about her Uncle Bill.

‘I really don’t know what’s going on with him,’ she said. ‘He’s acting really strangely. First of all he decided to check in to The King’s Head instead of staying with us. Then he claims he went off on a walk through the village delivering Christmas cards to Christ knows who. I’ve invited him for dinner at the house tonight. Six o’clock. Hopefully I’ll get more out of him then.’

James had never been a fan of Bill Cardwell. He’d always found him bad-tempered and loud-mouthed. And when he’d shouted at his niece at her mother’s funeral, it had taken a lot of will power not to punch him in the face.

‘I did ask Bill if he saw the parcel on the doorstep when he came to the house,’ Annie said. ‘He assured me he didn’t, but he claims he did see a man standing across the road from the school smoking a cigarette. And he swears blind that it was Daniel Curtis.’

James could tell that his wife found it uncomfortable even to mention the name. Early on in their relationship she told him about the short, ill-fated affair she’d had with the much older man and how it caused a rift between her and her father. James knew about Curtis’s subsequent conviction for having sex with a minor, and he wasn’t sure how he’d react if he ever met the guy.

‘I thought it was made clear to Curtis that he wasn’t welcome here after he got out of prison,’ he said.

‘It was, and that hasn’t changed, but according to Janet he comes here occasionally to see his elderly dad and tries to stay under the radar.’

As James thought about this an uneasy knot formed in his stomach.

After a beat, he said, ‘So, for different reasons, Daniel Curtis and Keith Patel have an uncomfortable relationship with the villagers. Curtis has been ostracised and Patel blames them for what happened to his mother. It might make them feel like they have a score to settle. In which case, perhaps it wasn’t just a coincidence that they were both out and about yesterday evening when the parcel and cards were being delivered.’

They’d just finished their soups when James’s phone rang. It was the patrol officer to say he had arrived in Kirkby Abbey to pick up the card and the priest’s fingerprints. James told him to come to The White Hart where he’d be waiting outside.