James looked back towards the village, which was about a hundred yards away. A number of buildings, including The White Hart pub, overlooked the field. But it was extremely unlikely that anyone would have witnessed the attack from any of the windows. There was no lighting, and as well as the dark, the falling snow would have reduced visibility.

James hoped it wouldn’t take the forensic officers long to reach the village. The crime scene already presented them with a major challenge, and if it started snowing again their task would be even more difficult.

He took photos of the body from various angles and a couple of the dog. Then he called Tanner and broke the news.

‘There’s no way I can get there today so you’re in charge of this case as senior investigating officer,’ the DCI said. ‘I’ll get DS Stevens to assist. He’s on call. And I’ll warn the press office to be ready for an avalanche of enquiries.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘Meanwhile, we can only hope that it’s a one-off and has nothing to do with that message in the card. But if it is, then we’ve got a big fucking problem on our hands.’

‘I agree,’ James said. ‘So how do we play it, guv? Should we disclose the existence of the message at this stage?’

‘No way. I don’t want everyone to panic, especially since we still can’t be sure that there is a link. We can certainly issue a warning to people in the village to be on their guard, though. For now, concentrate on those who might have harboured a grudge against the victim. And it seems to me that his wife should be at the top of the list after what happened between them yesterday.’

‘She’ll be my first port of call,’ James said. ‘But if she doesn’t have anything to do with it then I’m about to break the news to her that her husband has been murdered.’

James knew he should have stayed with the body until backup arrived, but he didn’t know how long that would be. He decided to head back towards the village to make the crowd aware that the situation was under control. He would also get someone to help him seal off the crime scene.

He knew that once he made it known that there had been a murder the news would spread like wildfire. And he felt sure there would be those who would demonstrate a distinct lack of sympathy because Charlie had betrayed and humiliated his wife.

This thought prompted James to recall another line from the message in the card.

And they all deserve what’s coming to them.

He knew well enough that not all killers believe their victims deserve to die. Most resort to murder for selfish reasons, driven, among other things, by hatred, greed, envy and sometimes a warped sense of justice.

In London, fatal stabbings were all too common. James had investigated dozens of them during his time with the Met, and most were carried out by perps who did not know their victims. But Kirkby Abbey was a world away from those inner-city areas where gang wars are rife and muggers lurk around every street corner. For that reason, James believed that Jenkins would have known his killer. Perhaps they were out walking together when the attack took place. Or maybe Jenkins was taken by surprise and the knife was plunged into him before he even realised what was happening.