‘Back at The King’s Head, I suppose. But who knows? His behaviour is really puzzling me. One minute he’s nice and friendly and the next he’s distant and evasive. Something is going on with him and I don’t know what it could be.’

‘But he was always a bit of a strange character,’ James said, as he took a bottle of wine from the fridge. ‘And as I remember he had a pretty short temper as well.’

‘He wasn’t always like that,’ Annie said. ‘When I was young, he was such a jolly soul. And very protective of me. He started to change after his wife left him. He withdrew into himself and became more argumentative. I remember some of the rows he had with Mum. They were quite ugly and one time my dad pushed him out of the house.’

James poured the wine and sat down next to Annie at the table.

‘You shouldn’t let him get to you like this,’ he said. ‘Don’t forget you invited him here for Christmas so that you could rekindle your relationship with him.’

She clenched her eyes shut and tears trickled from under the lids.

‘It’s not just that,’ she said. ‘It’s everything else that’s happened as well. Charlie’s murder, that gruesome parcel, the fact that we don’t know if any more people are going to be killed. This is not how it was meant to be. We came here to get away from all the bad stuff.’

‘I know and I feel the same, hon. It’s hard to take it all in.’

Annie opened her eyes and looked at him.

‘I don’t think your family should come here right now, James. You have to call them so that they’ve got plenty of time to make other arrangements.’

He knew she was right and he was surprised that it hadn’t already occurred to him.

‘I’ll phone my brother later,’ he said. ‘He can let the others know and sort out what they’ll do instead.’

James was disappointed, of course, but he was sure it was the right thing to do. Kirkby Abbey was not a safe place to be, it turned out, and it was unlikely that the villagers were going to be in the mood to celebrate Christmas as the big day approached.

The TV was tuned to BBC News and the mention of Cumbria seized their attention. The murder of Charlie Jenkins was being treated as a major story. There was aerial footage of the village and the field where his body had been found, along with shots of uniformed police shown talking to residents.

Gordon Carver, the reporter with the Cumbria Gazette, appeared on the screen, saying, ‘I understand that Mr Jenkins was stabbed several times. His body was discovered about ten o’clock this morning by a hiker. The body of his pet dog was found nearby. It’s believed the animal froze to death. The officer leading the investigation, Detective Inspector James Walker, is himself a resident in Kirkby Abbey. He told me that there are no suspects at the moment, but he’s confident that his team will find the killer.’