All her instincts were telling her that this was the start of something profoundly wicked. Something that had been planned with the aim of causing a great deal of pain and suffering. A lot of thought had gone into packaging the dead bird and preparing the cards that were sent to James and Father Silver.

Of course, there were lots of unanswered questions. Why were James and the priest singled out? Why the reference to The Twelve Days of Christmas? Why now? Why here?

Then there were the two men who had already aroused suspicion. Daniel Curtis and Keith Patel. They were both seen close to the house around the time the parcel was placed on the doorstep. It seemed odd to Annie that Curtis had been lurking outside the school. And wasn’t it strange that Patel had in his home a pack of those distinctive Christmas cards?

These were all avenues of inquiry that she hoped James would pursue. And she was sure he would. In fact, she experienced a twinge of guilt for assuming he was taking the wrong approach. After all, he was a top rate copper and had investigated dozens of murders while working in London. He knew what he was doing, and who was she to suggest otherwise?

Thinking about it was making her chest feel tight so she poured herself a glass of water and sat at the kitchen table.

There was just too much to process, too much pressure to handle all at once.

One consequence of these ghastly events was that she was no longer looking forward to Christmas. She decided that when James got home she would tell him that they should cancel his family’s visit. It wouldn’t be fair on them. They should do the sensible thing and tell them to stay safe in London.

The dark irony of the situation wasn’t lost on her, either. It was beginning to look as though they had moved from one hell to another.

It seemed inconceivable that within weeks of setting up home in this quiet Cumbrian village a murder would be committed. They had come here to feel safer, and to distance themselves from the likes of Andrew Sullivan and the rest of the scum who made London so dangerous and unpleasant. But it seemed that trouble had followed them, and it looked set to ruin their first Christmas here.

Annie was still sitting at the kitchen table ten minutes later, wondering what to do with herself during the rest of the day, when her phone rang. She expected it to be James and was surprised when she saw that it was her Uncle Bill who was calling. She had tried to ring him several times after he failed to show up in the square, but he hadn’t answered, so she was in no mood now to listen to any more bullshit excuses.

‘Are you deliberately trying to wind me up, Bill?’ she said before he could get a word in. ‘I thought you came here to spend time with me, but you keep disappearing.’