‘The guy panicked when he saw us here and I’m hoping the answer to why he did it is here in his cottage or workshop,’ he said. ‘So, let’s get suited up and try to find it.’

Stevens and three SOCOs followed him in while the other three SOCOs and two of the patrol officers went to search Nash’s workshop.

The cottage interior looked the same as it did when James was here before, except that the cardboard boxes and carrier bags stuffed with Christmas decorations had been removed from the living room. Despite that, the house still appeared cluttered and untidy. But given that Nash lived here by himself that came as no surprise to James.

There was little in the way of comfort items, unwashed crockery filled the sink and fast-food packets were piled high in the fridge.

But nothing struck James as out of the ordinary until he went upstairs and walked into Nash’s bedroom.

It was like a shrine to Charlotte Bateman.

Photographs of her virtually covered the wall behind the double bed and it looked to James as though many had been taken without her knowledge.

In one she was walking through the village in a summer dress and in another she was standing outside a pub in Kendal with her friend Heather Redgrave.

A dozen more photos were in frames and these were displayed on the tops of the bedside tables, the chest of drawers and a shelf above the radiator.

‘This is ruddy creepy,’ Stevens said when he entered the room. ‘The bloke obviously has an unhealthy obsession with his ex.’

‘We’d already been told that,’ James said. ‘And when I spoke to him, I got the clear impression that he’d loved her dearly and was grief-stricken by her death.’

‘But that doesn’t mean he didn’t decide to kill her, along with her parents, as punishment for her leaving him.’

James nodded. ‘You’re right, but if that is the case then we need more evidence. These photos and the prints in the cubbyhole are not going to be enough to get a conviction.’

The search continued and the detectives learned quite a bit more about William Nash. It seemed he was a history buff and had dozens of books on everything from the Roman Empire to the American Civil War. He was also something of an artist, and a spare room was filled with drawings and watercolours of the Cumbrian fells and familiar landmarks in Kirkby Abbey.

Nash had used another room as an office and paperwork relating to his handyman business was filed away in a steel cabinet. On his desk was a framed photo of him and Charlotte together. He had his arm around her shoulders and they were both smiling at the camera.