Tanner nodded, grim-faced. ‘DS Stevens has just told me about the card found in Miss Manning’s dressing gown pocket and he’s shown me a photo of the picture that was left on the grave in the churchyard. This is a real shit fest, James. In all my time as a police officer I’ve not known anything like it.’

‘Me neither, sir. I was hoping the message I received on Friday was a prank, but I’m certain now that it isn’t.’

‘I’m afraid I have to agree. I’ve spoken to the Chief Constable and she wants me to update her as soon as possible so I suggest we steam ahead with the briefing. We’ve got some important decisions to make and I’m under pressure to stage a press conference back at headquarters later in the day.’

Tanner called everyone together and launched into a short introduction. He explained that evidence had come to light that established a clear link between the murders of Charlie Jenkins and Lorna Manning.

‘We also have reason to believe that this could be the start of a killing spree targeting other people in this village,’ he said. ‘So this is now the Constabulary’s biggest and most high-profile case. It’s already attracting the attention of the media and that means the pressure will be on us to resolve it quickly.

‘We can count ourselves lucky in one respect – the senior investigating officer, DI Walker, actually lives here. He’s therefore perfectly placed to carry on heading up the investigation from this end. It’ll be my job to coordinate things back at headquarters and to liaise with the media and those upstairs. But we need to prepare ourselves for a tough time ahead because it seems like we’re dealing with a ruthless killer who has embarked on a mission that’s probably been a long time in the planning.’

After delivering his ominous warning, Tanner handed over to James, who began by referring to the timeline.

‘It started on Friday when I arrived home to find the parcel with the dead partridge and Christmas card on my doorstep,’ he said. ‘Then the following morning I got a call from Father Silver. Another card, with the same Twelve Days of Christmas design, had also been left in the church porch on Friday night.’

He read out both messages for the benefit of those officers who hadn’t been made privy to them. He then explained that he’d spoken to Keith Patel because Annie had spotted him on Friday evening close to their home.

‘I wondered at first if he was responsible because of his deep-rooted grudge against the villagers,’ James said. ‘He’s gone so far as to accuse them of being racist, but when I spoke to him about the cards he claimed not to know anything about them, even though I saw several cards with the same design in his home. Unfortunately, the only fingerprints on the card and parcel sent to me were my own. I’m still waiting to hear about potential prints on the card left at the church, but I suspect they will only belong to the priest.’