‘What appears to be in no doubt is that he went to Oaktree Farm with Charlotte on Christmas Eve,’ James said. ‘But we believe he drove away from there later in the evening and that just a couple of hundred yards from the farm his car collided with another vehicle, which was shunted off the road. He drove on without stopping but we have no idea where he went. What we do know is that on Christmas Day he returned to his flat here in Kendal around lunchtime, but only stayed for a short time before he was off again on foot and carrying a rucksack. We need to trawl CCTV cameras to see if we can find out where he went. His mother has given us his mobile number but attempts to ring it tell us it’s switched off. We need to alert the techies so they can track it if it starts transmitting again.

‘In the meantime, Savage’s car, and the vehicle whose owner reported the accident, are being examined by forensics, and we do have another potential suspect,’ James continued. ‘Kenneth O’Connor used to work for the Batemans at Oaktree Farm but was sacked six months ago. He apparently took it hard. According to Gordon Carver, O’Connor blamed Robert Bateman for sending his life into a downward spiral. The journalist actually saw O’Connor threaten Bateman one evening in a village pub. DS Stevens is currently on his way to O’Connor’s address to question him and find out if he had an alibi for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Does anyone else have any developments to add? Have the next of kin been traced and informed?’

‘We’ve managed to reach Robert’s brother in Ireland,’ someone said. ‘But so far we haven’t been able to contact Mary’s sister in France. We’ve asked the French police to assist.’

The latest news from forensics was that the two mobile phones found at the farm had been delivered to the lab along with various blood samples, including the one found on the stairs in the cellar.

There followed a brief question and answer session before James dished out assignments for the following day and decided who would work through the night.

‘We’ll kick off tomorrow with a briefing at eight,’ he said. ‘By then we’ll have all the crime scene photos and forensic reports.’

He was about to leave the office when his mobile rang. It was Stevens calling to tell him that he’d visited Kenneth O’Connor’s house, but there was no one there.

‘I spoke to his neighbours but they haven’t seen him for a couple of days and don’t know where he is,’ Stevens said. ‘And none of them has his mobile number.’

‘We’ll go back tomorrow,’ James said. ‘You might as well call it a day. We have a briefing scheduled at eight in the morning.’