‘That’s something we’re going to have to live with,’ James said. ‘Now, according to Laura Sheldon – the lawyer who found the bodies – Charlotte had a boyfriend named Neil Savage and she lived with him in Kendal. If she came to spend Christmas with her parents here then it’s possible he did as well, which means it’s possible the bloody shoeprints belong to him. So, we need to trace him. I also want us to start probing the family’s financial affairs. They were having serious problems, so perhaps that had something to do with what’s happened.’

There were no neighbours to interview so James suggested going into the village to make enquiries instead.

‘The more we know about the family the easier it will hopefully be to get answers to the questions that will soon be mounting,’ he told the group.

Back inside the farmhouse, James found Dr Flint kneeling over the body of Mary Bateman as SOCOs moved around the scene, taking pictures and bagging potential evidence.

The all-pervading sense of death unsettled James and caused his stomach muscles to contract.

He took the opportunity to take a tour of the house and was careful not to get into anyone’s way. Downstairs there was a utility room and study. Upstairs there were three bedrooms and a separate bathroom. Most of the furniture had seen better days and the carpets were grubby and well worn.

There was nothing to indicate that the house had been robbed, which suggested to James that the killings weren’t the work of a violent and desperate thief or thieves.

He found that Charlotte still had her own room even though she’d moved out. A SOCO who was checking the room showed James a small make-up bag that he’d found in the bedside drawer. Inside was a vape pen kit, a tube of e-liquid, several pre-rolled joints and a jar containing what the SOCO suspected were cannabis capsules. It appeared to confirm what James had been told about the girl dabbling in drugs.

Back downstairs, Tony Coppell was waiting to update him.

‘I can confirm that the knife used on Charlotte was from the block on the kitchen worktop,’ he said. ‘Two mobile phones have been found and bagged. One was in Charlotte’s jeans pocket and the other was on the unit next to the Christmas tree. They’re both password-protected so will have to be unlocked. The fragments of glass on the floor are from an empty wine bottle that either fell off the worktop or was smashed deliberately.’

Coppell then held up a small slip of paper. ‘And this we found in the pocket of Mr Bateman’s coat, which was hanging in the hallway. It’s a receipt for drinks bought on Christmas Eve at The King’s Head pub in Kirkby Abbey. And it shows that the transaction took place shortly before seven o’clock in the evening.’