Cooper was starting to find the idea of a green burial appealing. Since all those things that happened to the body after death were inevitable, why not turn them into something positive? Here, a corpse would be giving back life.

According to the manager of the site, they were getting a number of celebrity green burials around the country now. Dame Barbara Cartland had been buried in a cardboard coffin next to an oak tree in her own garden. It was a new alternative for farmers, too. All they needed was a bit of land that wasn’t used for anything else, and planning permission from the council.

Cooper hoped Matt didn’t get to hear about that idea. He already had enough to say about diversification as it was. Golf courses, holiday cottages, fishing lakes – and now burial grounds.

‘Very unhealthy, isn’t it?’ said Fry.

‘Don’t you see?’ Cooper gestured around the burial site. In the middle, the weeping willow stirred its slender branches as it drooped protectively over the grave at its roots. ‘Audrey Steele’s tree isn’t just a memorial to her. In a way, it is her. It’s a continuation of her life in a different form. People buried here will never be dead. Not really.’

‘Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.’

They began to walk back towards their car, parked out of sight beyond the trees. Then Fry stopped at the sight of one of the black-suited figures.

‘Ben, is that one of Audrey Steele’s relatives?’

Cooper followed her gaze. The suit didn’t really fit him at all. It was far too tight over his shoulders and belly. But it was certainly the man who’d let him into Vivien Gill’s house that morning.

‘Yes. Why?’

‘I recognize him from crown court.’

‘I thought he looked familiar, too. You must have a better memory than me for names.’

‘Well, it was only on Wednesday,’ said Fry. ‘He was sitting in the visitors’ gallery with the defendant’s family at my murder trial. I’m pretty sure he’s Micky Ellis’s brother.’

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

When they got back to West Street, scenes of crime had inventoried the contents of the plastic box. In addition to the crayons, sunglasses, toy dog and Matchbox Land Rover, they’d found a Magic Tree air freshener, a Beatrix Potter book, a Digimon tiger, a Nike ski-pass holder, a London Zoo eraser, a glow-in-the-dark skeleton key-ring, three tungsten dart shafts, a magnifying glass, and a miniature screwdriver set.

‘Oh, and a purple plastic grasshopper, with a metal tag attached to it,’ said Liz Petty. ‘Here it is. I thought you might like to see this item, in particular.’