‘What the hell is going on here? That poor woman will be forced to leave for good if things continue as they are.’

‘Did you get a look at him, sir?’ asked Swifty.

‘No. I only saw his general build as he ran away. Very slim and quite short, about five seven, at a guess. Wore dark clothes, looked like jeans and some kind of zipped-up jacket — you know, one of those light nylon sports jobs. Oh, and a beanie hat pulled down to his eyebrows.’ He stopped at the sound of an approaching vehicle. ‘That’ll be Liz come to collect me.’

An anxious-looking Liz hurried towards them. Swifty smiled at her. ‘Sarge! Good to see you!’ He pulled a face. ‘Pity it had to be like this. Our Matt has had a nasty bang on the head, and he refuses to go and get it checked out.’

Matt rolled his eyes. ‘Thanks, Swifty. Now I’ll have Liz nagging me, as well as you two! Can we just finish the interrogation so I can go home to bed?’

With an exasperated glance at Liz, Swifty continued. ‘Age?’

‘No idea. I’d say youngish, but he could have been a wiry type. Certainly ran like the wind. Um . . .’ Matt paused. ‘He must be a local, because he veered off into the marsh, and not on a footpath either. It had to be someone who knows the area really well.’

‘Or a total idiot who doesn’t realise how dangerous it is out there,’ said Debbie.

Matt had to agree, but when he recalled the way the man had dashed off, it was as if he knew exactly where he was going.

‘We’ll take a run down to Gerald Grove’s place and ask him if he’s seen or heard anything — not that he’d tell us if he had. I reckon the bloke’s long gone.’ Swifty lifted his cap and scratched his head. ‘Still, we have the petrol can. I couldn’t see anything else round the back, but we might see something in the daylight. Why don’t you get off home now, sir? We’ll talk to you again tomorrow, you can make a statement then, and don’t worry, we’ll go over this place with a fine-tooth comb in the morning.’

‘I’ll need to notify Mrs Swain. Oh, and ring Will — he was coming down to take over from me just before dawn.’

‘We can ring Mrs Swain, sir.’

‘I’d rather Liz or I talked to her first, Swifty. I’ve got the number of where she’s staying back at home. I’ll give it to you when I make my statement.’

‘Of course, sir.’

‘And I’ve already contacted Will,’ added Liz, ‘on my way here.’