Fry thought the journal had finished. She turned the page at what seemed to be the last entry. But on the other side, there was a final scrawl – two lines in hastily printed capitals:

IT WAS ALL A LIE. HE’S STILL HERE IN MY HEAD. WHO ELSE DO I HAVE TO KILL TO GET RID OF THIS THING INSIDE ME?

‘There’s an earlier entry that looks identical to one of the phone calls,’ said Fry, when she’d finished reading.

Cooper nodded. ‘Some of it is borrowed from Professor Robertson. Notes from when Vernon was his student, perhaps? He seems to have taken in every word as gospel. But the professor could be very persuasive. Mesmerizing almost.’

Fry slid the journal back into its plastic bag and took off her gloves.

‘And what about the human remains at Fox House Farm, Ben?’

‘I think that’ll turn out to be Vernon’s father.’

‘Richard Slack? You think Vernon stole the body of his own father?’

‘It would have been easier to achieve than with Audrey Steele,’ said Cooper. ‘Especially as Richard was due to be buried rather than cremated. There were people already complicit by then.’

‘But why?’

‘It would make sense, if Vernon took on board some of the ideas that Freddy Robertson was teaching him – the practice of excarnation, the sarcophagus and the charnel house. He left a body in “the dead place” to be sure that all the flesh had gone from the bones.’

‘And he was going back at intervals to check on progress?’

‘He wanted to be sure that his father’s spirit had gone. He was afraid it would linger unless the bones were completely clean and dry. That’s what Robertson had told him, you see.’

‘And when the bones were finally clean –’

‘Vernon thought he’d be free. Free of the nightmares, free of the memory of his father. He seems to have believed that his father was still in his head somehow. Well, you’ve read it, Diane. He expresses it clearly enough himself in his journal.’

‘So perhaps when he called, he knew he was getting close: “Soon there will be a killing.” He might not have been talking about his own death at all.’

Cooper sat back, suddenly weary. ‘Vernon must have hated his father very much. It appears his father abused him badly as a small child. Vernon bore the pain in his bones all his life. I noticed him moving stiffly, but thought it was a recent beating. It wasn’t – it was a very old one. A series of vicious beatings, dating back to infancy.’

‘Richard Slack was worth more as meat for the worms than he ever was alive.’

‘Yes, you might say that.’

‘And if his father was still alive, no doubt he’d turn up at the child’s funeral and send flowers,’ said Fry distantly.

Cooper stared at her.

‘Diane, are you all right?’ he said.