‘Nothing that you’ll find particularly useful,’ he replied. ‘The bloodstain on the stairs over there still hasn’t led us anywhere, and the prints found in the cubbyhole at the top don’t match any on the system, or those of Kenneth O’Connor, Neil Savage or Dean Foreman.’

James asked Coppell and Martin to fast-track the DNA tests and he and Abbott then went back outside.

‘There’s no point us hanging around here,’ he said. ‘Let’s get back to the station and pull our thoughts together. I’ll put in a call to Giles Keegan on the way and tell him what we’ve found.’

The former detective was shocked to hear what had been unearthed in the cellar at Oaktree Farm.

‘That’s really upsetting,’ he said. ‘I’ve always clung onto the faint hope that she didn’t die and has been living a full life somewhere, oblivious to what happened to her parents.’

‘This is probably a stupid question, Giles, but was a full forensic search of the cellar carried out at the time?’ James asked.

‘I’m sure it must have been. I wasn’t there while the sweep took place, but I’m convinced that if it had looked as though the floorboards had been moved, they would have been taken up.’

‘Then it’s another mystery,’ James said.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

They arrived back in Kendal just as it began to snow. James could feel his pulse beating high up in his throat as he walked into the office, and at the same time dark thoughts were swimming through his head.

The case was beginning to grind him down, especially the way it kept hurling him back through the years. It was making him believe that the answers to some of the outstanding questions lay in the past. But if he was wrong, he ran the risk of wasting valuable time by searching for them.

He gave Annie a quick call before deciding what needed to be done, and told her he wouldn’t be home until much later.

‘Janet has popped over to see me,’ she said. ‘We’re having an afternoon tea together and she’s helping me decide what we should have in the baby’s room.’

Janet Dyer was Annie’s closest friend in the village. She was a single mum to twin boys and worked as a carer.

‘I made a casserole earlier,’ Annie went on. ‘All you have to do is heat it up when you get in.’

‘Are the officers still outside keeping an eye on the place?’ he asked.

‘Yes, they are. I forgot to tell them that Janet was visiting and one of them gave her quite a scare when he approached her on the doorstep.’

‘Andrew Sullivan won’t be an issue soon and they’ll be pulled off.’

‘I do hope so,’ Annie said. ‘I really don’t like living like this.’