‘She was quiet and not very communicative. She always seemed on edge.’

‘And their daughter, Charlotte?’

‘Well I’ve seen her from time to time, of course, but I’ve never had a conversation with her. I do know she gave her parents a lot of grief and was once collared for shoplifting and got off with a caution.’

‘What about her boyfriend, a guy named Neil Savage? Can you tell me anything about him?’

‘No, I’ve not heard the name and I’ve never seen Charlotte with anyone but her parents.’

James then raised the subject of the killings at Oaktree Farm back in 1997.

‘I was just about to ask you if you knew about those,’ Keegan said. ‘Tanner told you that I was the senior investigating officer?’

‘Yes, so I wanted to ask: do these latest killings strike you as a grisly coincidence or do you think there could possibly be a link between them?’

Keegan was silent for a few seconds as he thought about it, then said, ‘For the life of me I can’t see how they can possibly be connected since they took place so far apart. But it is flipping weird nonetheless, especially given that Bateman was working on the farm when the Roths were killed.’

‘Yes, Tanner mentioned that as well, but didn’t specify what Bateman’s role was.’

‘He was a farmhand and the only employee. He lived with his wife in a fairly isolated cottage between Kirkby Abbey and Oaktree Farm. But they were away on a short break with their daughter at Robert’s mother’s home in Sunderland when the Roths died. I broke the news to him over the phone and I have to say he was very helpful during the investigation. We learned some things about the Roths that I hadn’t been aware of.’

‘Such as?’

‘Well, he described Simon as a Jekyll and Hyde character who was good-natured and easy going most of the time, but also a bit controlling and quick to lose his temper, particularly with his wife. They often argued, Bateman said, and it was partly because Simon bullied Amanda and she didn’t take kindly to it.’

‘And did Robert have a clue as to what happened in the cellar on that day?’

‘He shared my view that Simon Roth killed his wife after an argument that got out of hand. She suffered two fatal blows to the head from a hammer that was found on the floor beside her. It had her husband’s prints on. We concluded that Simon must have then shot himself.’

‘So, what about the couple’s baby, Megan?’ James said. ‘What happened to her?’