‘Not to mention the Jarvises and their dogs.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Well, John Casey may not be the most efficient property agent in the world. But he struck me as vaguely incompetent, rather than criminal.’

‘Didn’t you think he was a bit quick to draw our attention to Maurice Goodwin and his role at Alder Hall? That was too convenient, I thought.’

‘Did you?’

‘Look, Goodwin left the company three months ago. And Casey just happens not to have made arrangements for somebody else to check the hall regularly since then? And he just happens not to have found a replacement for Goodwin. Why not? What’s so special about the job that he wasn’t satisfied with any of the applicants?’

‘I don’t know. Diane, what are you suggesting?’

‘I’m wondering if Casey had Maurice Goodwin lined up as a scapegoat to take the blame if things went wrong. In any case, I’d like to know why Goodwin left the job in the first place.’

‘A personality clash, Mr Casey said.’

‘That usually means a blazing row with the boss. What if John Casey deliberately manoeuvred Goodwin into a position where he’d decide that he’d had enough and walk out?’

‘Leaving Casey himself with free run of the estate?’

‘Yes.’

‘But a free run to do what, Diane? Dump dead bodies in the undergrowth?’

‘Or provide the opportunity for somebody else to do it.’

‘It’d be a bit risky,’ said Cooper. ‘What if a buyer came along to inspect the property? He could have ended up with surveyors and builders swarming all over the estate.’

‘Not without plenty of warning. Casey is the man with the keys, remember. Besides, the hall has been on the market for two years. I’ll bet he exhausted the supply of potential buyers a long time ago.’

‘Two years, that’s right …’ Cooper worked the timings out in his head. ‘I bet whoever dumped Audrey Steele’s body was hoping the hall would never find a buyer, and the estate would stay neglected. He overlooked the fact that “right to roam” would give walkers free access.’

‘I wonder if Casey ever suggested bringing the price of the property down,’ said Fry.

‘Why?’

‘Well, that’s what an agent would normally do if he couldn’t find a buyer. He’d advise the seller to come down a bit. If you refuse to lower the price, it looks as though you’re not serious about selling.’

‘You seem to know a lot about the property market all of a sudden, Diane. I thought you’d never owned a house of your own. You rent a flat, like me.’

‘I haven’t always lived in Derbyshire. I had a life in civilization before I came here.’

Fry turned away and looked out of the car window, as if her thoughts had started to stray.

‘Well, if Alder Hall is “the dead place”,’ said Cooper, ‘then John Casey was right about one thing, at least.’

‘What’s that?’

‘It’s a little different from the normal house sale.’

He laughed, and glanced at Fry. But her face never changed. She’d drifted off somewhere, to a place where there wasn’t much to laugh about.