‘No problem,’ James said. ‘I’ll go and have a word with him. Has anyone else turned up apart from the SOCOs?’

‘No, sir. It’s been really quiet.’

James walked up the driveway towards the reporter, who was making notes.

‘Good morning, Inspector,’ Carver said as James approached him. ‘I was actually planning to give you a call in a little while.’

‘Well now you won’t have to bother,’ James said. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I’m trying to find out exactly what happened yesterday. It’s all over the village that William Nash was involved in an accident while being pursued by police. But no one seems to know for sure why he was fleeing. The assumption is that you wanted to question him about the Oaktree Farm killings. Is that so?’

James sighed. He should have known that with Carver being a resident of Kirkby Abbey it’d be impossible to keep a lid on what had happened.

‘Shouldn’t your first question have been how badly hurt is he?’

Carver grinned. ‘I already know that, Inspector. I’ve got a couple of contacts at the Royal Lancaster and they told me he’s got a bunch of broken bones and a head injury, but that his condition isn’t critical.’

‘And have you got the jump on everyone else with this story?’

‘I think so. I checked the wires before I came out and there’s no mention of it anywhere. But it’s a hot topic among the villagers so it won’t be long before the word spreads.’

‘Have you called the press office?’

‘I did late last night, but they only confirmed that there’d been an accident. They didn’t release the driver’s name.’

‘Try again in a couple of hours then. They’ll have more to tell you by then.’

‘I’ll do that, but in the meantime, I intend to run the story with what I know.’

‘And what do you know?’

Carver consulted his notebook. ‘That handyman William Nash was badly hurt when his van crashed into a wall while he was being chased by you guys. That he’s the former boyfriend of Charlotte Bateman, who was killed along with her parents on Christmas Eve. And that you suspect he might have carried out the killings, which is why a forensic team is at his home today.’

James mulled this over and said, ‘Well, as a favour to you, Gordon, I won’t contradict anything you’ve told me.’

‘So, does that mean I can file the story in the knowledge that it’s entirely accurate?’

James stifled a grin. ‘You can. But don’t quote me. And I hope you get credit for coming up with yet another scoop.’

‘Oh, that’s a given, Inspector. I’ll be in touch. And thanks.’

With that, he turned and walked to his car.