‘It would have been easy for the killer to approach the house along the lane and climb over the low garden fence,’ he said. ‘As ever, the lack of CCTV cameras means we don’t have the luxury of viewing video footage that might have captured the perp.’

James explained that checks were being carried out on Lorna’s phone, laptop and social media history. Officers had also been searching her office at the school and speaking to colleagues there, but nothing of interest had so far emerged.

‘We haven’t yet established a meaningful link between our two victims other than that they both lived in Kirkby Abbey,’ he said. ‘But the killer seems to believe that they did have one thing in common – they both deserved to die. And if this is indeed the motive, then we need to find out as much as we can about Lorna Manning and Charlie Jenkins.

‘One thing that does seem to be in doubt is whether Lorna was in a relationship. Most of her friends and colleagues don’t believe she was, but it turns out that on Wednesday evening she had a meal at The King’s Head with Giles Keegan, who you all know was one of us before he retired. Now, it could be they were just acquaintances, but either way, I intend to talk to Giles about it. I’m also planning to interview Daniel Curtis. It was his father who spread the gossip about Charlie’s affair with Janet Dyer. But Daniel was also seen loitering outside the school on Friday evening and I want to know if it had anything to do with Lorna. For people who aren’t familiar with Daniel Curtis, he served a prison sentence for having sex with a minor and was ostracised by the people of this village.’

James decided not to mention his wife’s involvement with the man, but he couldn’t help wondering if any of them already knew about it.

‘Do we know anything about Lorna Manning’s movements over the weekend?’ one of the uniformed officers asked.

‘Good question,’ James said. ‘Right now, all we know for certain is that she went to the square on Sunday for the carol singing and was there when Charlie’s body was found. I saw her myself. And I’m told that a couple of her neighbours saw her coming and going on both days, but no one noticed if she had any visitors. So we need to look into it some more.’

James invited Stevens to update the team on enquiries relating to Charlie Jenkins. The DS had just spoken to someone back at the office in Kendal who had been collating information.

‘The headline point is that forensics haven’t come up with anything that moves the investigation forward,’ he said. ‘They found no unusual or suspicious activity on his phone and computer. And the kitchen knives taken from the pub and the flat above it contained no blood traces. I’ve also talked to the FLO who is with his wife, Sonia. She says the woman has given her no reason to suspect that she killed him. Sonia didn’t leave the flat last night at all and only emerged this morning to attend the church service for her husband. So she’s most definitely not a suspect in Lorna Manning’s murder.’