Matt went into the lounge. Will listened to him making all the right noises before going into the small room off the hall that they used as a study. He logged into the computer.

He skimmed through his own mail, deleting most of the messages, then took a look at Kate’s emails. He found a string of unopened messages, and dozens of websites that she had saved as favourites. All had to do with genealogy or local history.

He opened one and found it was an old story about a local eel-catcher. He left that one and clicked on another that consisted of a series of sensational newspaper articles, including a story about the disappearance of a two-year-old girl from Whisper Fen.

He sat forward, closer to the screen, horrified. There was a third child then. A third lost child at Holland House.

He read on. According to the article, it had occurred three years after the house was built. Victoria Holland, the rich farmer’s daughter-in-law, to whom the house had been given as a wedding present, had given birth to twins — a boy called Albert and a girl named Elizabeth. Shortly after their second birthday, the children had been playing in the garden in the care of their nanny. This woman had apparently returned to the house in order to get her charges some cool drinks. When she came back, a matter of minutes later, the little boy was alone and crying. Elizabeth Holland had disappeared without trace.

Will groaned in dismay. Kate must not read this. He deleted the message and the link. Then he realised that she must have made a note of all these website addresses from the phone call. He sifted through the papers on the desk but found nothing. Then he searched the waste bin and found it. He removed the screwed-up piece of paper and pushed it in his pocket, collected up the bin and took it out to the incinerator in the garden, where he burned the lot.

He went to the kitchen with a heavy heart. How many more dark secrets did Holland House have to reveal? And how many of these would his wife discover?

While he made tea, Will listened to Kate’s excited voice praising Matt for remembering some choice piece of information about the fen.

He carried their mugs into the lounge. Kate called out, ‘Oh, I’m so glad Matt came to see me today, darling! He’s a treasure trove of information.’

Will summoned a grin. ‘That’s our Matt for you, a right little treasure.’

‘And here’s the best bit. He knows an old man who has lived here all his life. And he used to work in the garden here! He’s going to take me to meet him. Isn’t that great? I bet he’ll have some incredible stories.’ Her dark-rimmed eyes burned almost feverishly.