‘Detective Constable Cooper, sir. Edendale CID.’

Cooper was used to a variety of reactions when he identified himself. He was rarely a welcome visitor, even to someone who’d been the victim of a recent crime. Then, he was often the target of their frustration. But there was no anxiety or surprise from Tom Jarvis, only a slight disappointment that he hadn’t found a customer for the old Datsun after all.

‘Did you want something?’ he said.

‘Could I ask you a few questions, sir? Nothing to worry about – just routine.’

‘Come up on to the porch, then.’

The deck of the porch was quite a long way off the ground, and Mr Jarvis was looking down on him from a height of about nine feet. Cooper could have scrambled up, but he thought he might lose dignity doing it. Instead, he walked around to the side to reach a set of wide wooden steps that led down to a path into the trees.

Going up the steps, he felt as though he was mounting a stage. That was something he hadn’t done for a long time, not since he went up to collect his certificates at his school prize-giving. For a moment, Cooper felt as vulnerable as he had when he’d been convinced he was going to trip over the top step and fall flat on his face in front of eight hundred pupils and parents.

‘How are you, Mr Jarvis?’ he said.

‘Sound. I’m sound.’

‘This porch is a solid piece of work, sir. Did you build it yourself?’

‘With a bit of help from my sons. Joinery used to be my trade, but this was a challenge. I wanted something that’d last, not some rubbish that would blow down in the first gale.’

‘It won’t do that.’

Jarvis kicked a post reflectively. His boot connected with a dull thud. ‘No, I reckon it won’t.’

Cooper grasped the rail to help himself up the last step. The wood felt smooth and comfortable, and he saw that it was turned in decorative patterns, like the end of a church pew. It was the sort of smoothness that resulted from the touch of many hands over centuries of use, wherever it had originally come from.

‘You’ll be all right,’ said Jarvis from the end of the porch. ‘They won’t bother you. They always sleep at this time of day, and it’d take Armageddon to wake ’em up.’

Puzzled, Cooper looked up. Four huge mongrel dogs lay in a tangled heap on the porch, like a badly made rug. At least, he thought there were four. There could have been another shaggy head or two somewhere in the middle of the heap, without making much difference.

‘What are their names?’ he said, knowing it always went down well with the punters to show an interest in their pets.

Jarvis grimaced at the dogs. ‘Feckless, Pointless, Graceless and Aimless.’

‘Really?’

‘Don’t ask me why. It was her idea.’

‘Whose?’

He jerked his head towards the house. ‘Hers. The wife’s.’