‘Probably someone calling the dogs back. The hounds, I mean.’

He noted that she’d corrected herself on the use of ‘hound’. Could it be that Fry was finally learning to fit in? She’d been in Derbyshire for a few years now, the big-city girl out of her depth in the country. For the whole of that time, she’d made it plain that she resented officers like Cooper for knowing better than she did. And Cooper felt that he’d made himself the prime target of her resentment, somehow. It was almost as if he’d done something much more personal that had caused permanent, unforgivable offence. It was a pity – he felt sure they would work better together if he could only get over this barrier.

‘What did they shout?’ he asked her. ‘Could you tell?’

‘The quality of the sound is terrible,’ said Fry. ‘But the name sounds like Rosie.’

‘Rosie?’

That didn’t sound right to Cooper. In his experience, hounds tended to be given names like Soldier, or Statesman, or Pirate. Rosie was far too twee for a foxhound. Fry wouldn’t realize that, of course.

‘It might tie in with what some of the hunt saboteurs told Inspector Redfearn about hearing the kill call,’ said Fry. ‘You know what that means?’

Cooper tried not to look too smug. ‘Yes, I know what the kill call is.’

‘So . . . ?’

‘These riders,’ he said. ‘Were they wearing hunting dress?’

‘They were in tweed jackets.’

‘Ratcatcher? But that’s autumn hunting dress.’

Fry laughed. ‘It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, surely?’

This time, Cooper couldn’t resist smiling at the awareness of his superior knowledge. ‘I think you’ll find it does, Diane. You don’t wear ratcatcher in March.’

He saw Fry hesitate then. He had to say that for her, at least – if you sounded sure enough of yourself, it did make her stop and think twice.

‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘what I really wanted you for was to come with me to the Forbes place. The woman there is joint master of the Eden Valley Hunt. There are three masters, apparently, but the other two live in Sheffield, and she’s our local person. Do you know her, by any chance?’

‘I know of her,’ admitted Cooper. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever actually met.’

‘Good. I spoke to her on Tuesday, during the hunt. But it wasn’t a good time to get anything out of her. I want to corner her at home.’

‘Corner her? You make her sound like a trapped rat.’

‘Well, that’s kind of what I’m hoping for. I’m sure the hunt people were closing ranks against me. Definitely covering something up.’

‘So you said. But I wouldn’t be too quick to jump to that conclusion,’ said Cooper. ‘When do you want to go?’

‘This afternoon.’

‘No problem.’