Why hadn’t the guy been seen around for days? It was unusual because he was such a high-profile character at the clubs and boozers in his north London neighbourhood. And if he really was on a Christmas break away from the city, had he by any chance decided to spend it in Cumbria?

James had lied to Annie about the contents of the text so as not to alarm her. Thankfully she had believed him when he’d told her that it was from DCI Tanner requesting an update.

But the text wasn’t the only thing playing on his mind. There were at least two other suspects in the frame now – Keith Patel and Daniel Curtis – even if there was no real evidence linking them to the anonymous threats yet. That they both just happened to have been on the streets near James and Annie’s home around the time the parcel was placed on their doorstep was reason enough for them to be suspects, in James’s opinion.

But who was to say they weren’t back in their homes when the card for Father Silver was left in the church porch? According to him, it could have been put there during the night or early this morning.

Then, of course, there was the big unknown. Was this all just a bizarre hoax or a credible threat? Gut instinct told James it was the former, partly because of the melodramatic nature of the messages in the cards and the dead partridge. And the boss was right to be wary of upgrading it to something more serious at this early stage.

Anonymous threats, especially those delivered by post or by hand, were notoriously difficult to investigate, especially those without an obvious suspect or motive. In this case the perp teasingly referred to Twelve days. Twelve murders. Twelve victims. And they all deserve what’s coming to them. But the message lacked specific information, with no names or references to gender. There was no clue as to the motive, either, other than that the victims were going to get what was coming to them.

‘James, will you snap out of it?’

He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t realised Annie was trying to get his attention until he felt her tugging on his sleeve.

‘Sorry, hon, I was miles away,’ he said.

She was standing in front of him holding her phone.

‘Janet Dyer just called me,’ she said quietly. ‘She’s upset and has asked if I can pop over to her place for a chat. I suspect it’s about Charlie going there. Would you mind? I can meet you at home. I won’t be long and I’ve got all I need here.’

He nodded. ‘Actually, that’s fine with me. I feel I should be doing something so it’ll give me a chance to go and have a word with Keith Patel now rather than tomorrow when I was planning to. If he does have anything to do with this then I might be able to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand.’