‘He came up here to his flat. But he didn’t stay long. I know because an hour or so later I happened to be looking out of my window when I saw him walking off down the street. He had his rucksack on his back so I assumed he was going back to Charlotte’s parents’ farm. That’s where he’d told me they were spending Christmas.’

‘And Charlotte definitely wasn’t with him on Christmas Day?’ James said.

Mr Leyton shook his head. ‘No, she wasn’t. I haven’t seen her around since early on Christmas Eve. So, what’s going on? Is the lad in trouble again?’

‘I’m not at liberty to say at this time, Mr Leyton. I can only share that we need to talk to him in connection with an incident. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you could come downstairs and show us which is his car.’

The car was a relatively old Peugeot 307 and there was extensive damage to the offside wing. It was badly dented and scratched, and the headlight was broken.

James noted the registration and called it in. He told control that he wanted to know if there were any reports of the car being involved in an accident on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day anywhere in this part of Cumbria.

He didn’t have to wait long to hear back. A woman had called police around 7.20 p.m. on Christmas Eve to say that a vehicle rammed into the back of her car when it was overtaking, forcing her off the road and into a dry-stone wall. The driver of the other vehicle failed to stop and drove off at speed.

The woman was badly shaken but not hurt, and the officers who responded arranged for her car to be towed away and then gave her a lift home.

She didn’t get the number or make of the offending vehicle but James believed there was a strong possibility that the other driver was Neil Savage. Not least because of where the incident took place – about two hundred yards from the entrance to Oaktree Farm.

CHAPTER TWELVE

It was three o’clock already so as James and DC Abbott waited at Savage’s flat for the forensic team to arrive they took the opportunity to have a late lunch in the form of takeaway coffees and sandwiches from a small café across the road.

When they appeared, James briefed the SOCOs on the situation and got them to open Savage’s car so that he could check the interior before it got transported to the labs. He didn’t spot any signs of blood, but told the SOCOs to pay particular attention to the footwell and pedals.