Father Steiner appeared embarrassed enough by the revelation himself. But then he looked at Fleet with a sudden certainty in his eyes. ‘But don’t you see? Ben was the one who found the crypt. When I came across him, he was standing right beside the entrance. No!’ the chaplain declared. ‘He wasn’t standing. He was on all fours. I thought he’d dropped something and was trying to locate it. And what you said before, about me knowing the chapel better than anyone … the truth is Ben knew it, too. Even if he was faking his relationship with me, he wasn’t pretending when it came to his drawing, his passion for architecture. If he found a way into the crypt, he would have realised immediately what it was.’

As before, Fleet had the sense that Father Steiner had genuinely just made a connection that had somehow eluded him until now.

‘Why didn’t you mention this sooner?’

The chaplain shook his head helplessly. ‘I … I don’t know. Maybe I did, originally, but at the time Ben went missing I don’t suppose it would have seemed relevant. And it’s only because you mentioned the crypt … the woods … that I suddenly recalled.’

Fleet could feel his anger – his frustration – beginning to build. Not so much at the fact that Father Steiner hadn’t mentioned seeing Ben near the crypt earlier – the chaplain was right, it wouldn’t have seemed relevant that he had seen Ben in the clearing, because no one had known until just over a week ago that the crypt even existed – but rather at the growing sense he had that the chaplain was telling the truth. And if that was the case, it meant Fleet was even further away from finding Nicky than he had been before.

‘It doesn’t change things,’ Fleet said, shaking his head. ‘Even if Ben found the crypt himself, someone still blocked him inside. And in case it hasn’t already occurred to you, Father Steiner, you’ve just given us reason to suspect that you knew about the entrance to the crypt, too.’

The chaplain’s expression morphed from one of hope to despair.

‘But … but I didn’t. I just told you! I didn’t see the entrance.’

‘You saw Ben find it. Meaning you could easily have gone back to the clearing to investigate it yourself. Maybe he even told you what he’d found, and you advised him to keep it to himself. Assuming you’re telling the truth about what you witnessed in the first place.’