As James drove away from Oaktree Farm with DC Abbott, that short and difficult conversation with his wife played on his mind. He knew that what he’d told her had come as an unwelcome shock and he feared she wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it.

Annie was a worrier at the best of times, and pregnancy had heightened her emotional responses to just about everything, but James had to accept that there was nothing he could do about it for now. He pushed it from his thoughts and focused on the job at hand.

Of the two pubs in Kirkby Abbey, The King’s Head was James’s favourite. He liked the rustic charm and the way the landlord and landlady made customers feel so welcome.

When he and Abbott got there, Luke Grooms and his wife Martha, along with a couple of staff members, were busy serving the lunchtime rush. Everyone seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves, and the place still buzzed with festive spirit.

James wasn’t looking forward to being the bearer of bad news again. He knew that as word spread, the village would be consumed by a deep, dark cloud. But what had happened at Oaktree Farm wasn’t something they could keep a lid on.

Luke was chatting to a group at one of the tables and Martha was standing behind the bar. When she spotted James, she smiled and waved him over.

‘Hello there, James,’ she said. ‘Didn’t you tell me when I last saw you that you were going back to work today?’

‘I am at work, Martha,’ he replied. ‘This is my colleague, Detective Constable Abbott, and we’d like to have a word with you, if we may.’

A frown puckered Martha’s brow. ‘That sounds ominous. What’s it about?’

‘First, I need to know if you and Luke were here between about six and seven on Christmas Eve.’

‘Well I was, but my husband was visiting his mother in Sedbergh. Why do you want to know?’

‘Can we go and talk somewhere more private, Martha?’ James asked. ‘And I think it would be a good idea if Luke joined us.’

The couple told their two staff members to cover the bar and tables and then retreated to a back office with James and DC Abbott. When Luke and Martha were seated, James said, ‘Now what I’m about to say will come as a shock. As of this moment it isn’t public knowledge but it soon will be, and until it is, I’ll ask you to please keep it to yourselves.’

‘You’re scaring us, James,’ Luke said, his eyes anxious. ‘Can you please get to the point?’

‘All three members of the Bateman family have been killed in an extreme act of violence at Oaktree Farm,’ James said carefully.