Cooper took a large plastic bag from his pocket and carefully slipped the urn in, before filling out a receipt. The lid didn’t look particularly secure, so he’d have to be careful to keep it upright in the car. The lab wouldn’t be happy to get only half an exhibit, with the rest scattered in his footwell or down the back of a seat.

‘Mrs Gill, do you remember anything unusual about the service at the crematorium?’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, were there any mourners you didn’t know, for example?’

‘There were some of Audrey’s friends from the hospital that I hadn’t met before. Nurses, you know. But apart from that, I knew pretty much everybody. It wasn’t a big do.’

‘And apart from the mourners?’

‘Well, Batman was there.’

‘Who?’

‘Batman. Bloke with a black suit, miserable expression, travels in a big car with a lot of space in the back.’

Cooper was baffled, until he saw Mrs Gill watching him with a sharp expression, like a bird. He had a feeling he was being tested.

‘The undertaker,’ she said. ‘Melvyn Hudson.’

‘Funeral director is the title he prefers, I believe. So Mr Hudson was there?’

‘Of course he was there. He had to do all the business, didn’t he? Make sure nothing went wrong. That’s his job.’

‘And did anything go wrong?’

She looked away, as if she suddenly had to check on the weather outside the window.

‘Vernon Slack was driving the hearse. God, that lad – it’s obvious he only got a job with the firm because his grandfather is part-owner.’

‘He can drive a car all right, can’t he?’

‘Oh, cars he’s fine with, and he can lift a coffin as well as the rest of them. But that’s about all. He’s useless around the mourners. Doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know what expression to have on his face, doesn’t know where to put his hands. He’s a complete embarrassment. Melvyn does his best to keep him out of the way. And out of sight, as much as possible.’

‘How do you know Vernon Slack?’

‘Everybody knows the Hudsons and the Slacks. They’ve been in business in Edendale for ages.’

Vivien Gill seemed to be taking everything very well. But Cooper had learned that an apparent calmness could be deceptive. At any moment the grief might spurt out, like blood gushing from a severed artery.

‘Please tell me,’ said Mrs Gill. ‘I don’t understand. Why would anyone want to steal Audrey’s body?’

‘We don’t know. It may have been … well, incidental to something else.’

‘Incidental?’

‘Yes.’