‘Unless, of course, it was intended for bigger prey than a fox.’

‘OK, when you’ve all finished messing around over there, you might want to see this –’

They turned to find Wayne Abbott regarding them with a sour expression. He was holding a couple of evidence bags containing what Cooper immediately recognized as sections of bone, stained brown and splintered at the ends.

‘Just as a non-expert opinion, I have to admit that these should put paid to the accidental fall theory,’ said Abbott.

‘What is it?’ asked Fry.

They gathered round him as he held up the bags. ‘Here, and here … Do you see the marks on the sheath of the bone? They’re quite clear. I’d say that it’s only the vegetation that was holding this body together at all. Not too long ago, someone dismantled it. And they were using a very sharp knife. They took the skin right off the bone.’

That evening, the news from Edendale crown court was that Micky Ellis had been given the mandatory life sentence, with a tariff of fifteen years. He’d be out in ten, or less. The CPS had called to say they were pleased with the result.

But Diane Fry didn’t feel like celebrating. Instead, she spent some time listening to the tapes before she went home. Soon, she’d know them by heart.

What she really wanted was to be able to recognize the caller’s voice if she heard it. Despite the distortion, there ought to be some characteristic feature of the phrasing or intonation that would identify him, if only she could produce a suspect for comparison. The application of intelligence should refine the primeval urge. The pretentiousness alone should be a giveaway. Who spoke like that, unless they’d been given a script to read? Inside every person, the evil Thanatos fights an endless battle with Eros. Who’d ever heard of Thanatos, for heaven’s sake?

Fry looked around the office and noticed Ben Cooper hadn’t left yet. He’d taken a personal call a few minutes ago, and he was looking a bit subdued.

‘Are you all right, Ben?’ she called. ‘Why haven’t you gone home?’

Cooper looked up, unable to hide an expression of surprise. Too absorbed in his own concerns to be aware of her as usual, she supposed.

‘I’m not in a hurry,’ he said. ‘I’m going to the hospital first to visit my mother, and visiting time doesn’t start for a while yet. Did I mention she was in hospital?’

‘Yes, I think so,’ said Fry vaguely. Maybe he had, but she wasn’t sure. ‘How is she?’

‘That was my brother on the phone. He says the doctors think it wasn’t just a fall. It looks as though she had a minor stroke.’

‘I’m sorry. But only a minor one?’

‘The trouble with one stroke is that another is often close behind.’