It wasn’t as though it hadn’t been a long, gruelling day. It was 8 p.m. when he got home and by then his eyes felt dry and heavy, and the pounding in his head filled his ears.

Annie was waiting for him in the hallway as he stepped through the front door. There was a smile on her face, but he could tell from her eyes that it was pasted on for his benefit.

‘There’s a large whisky waiting for you in the kitchen,’ she said. ‘And I’ve put a ready meal in the microwave. You can get stuck in while you tell me about your day, which I guess has been pretty horrendous.’

‘You’ve guessed right, my love,’ he said as he removed his coat and shoes and walked up to her.

He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She was wearing his favourite perfume, the one with a heady fragrance of jasmine.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t get home any sooner,’ he said. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Of course. And there’s no need for you to apologise.’

She lifted her head so that he could kiss her on the lips and afterwards she took his hand and led him into the kitchen.

‘I’ve got a splitting headache,’ he said. ‘I’ll need to take a couple of painkillers with the whisky.’

‘Make yourself comfortable and I’ll heat up your dinner,’ Annie said.

He got a packet of paracetamol from the cupboard and popped two tablets into his mouth, washing them down with the whisky as he sat at the table.

He wasn’t really hungry – he would have been quite happy to have had just a couple more stiff drinks before sloping off to bed – but he knew that Annie was desperate to know how the investigation was going and whether the people of Kirkby Abbey had another killer in their midst.

She started the ball rolling after dishing up his meal and pouring herself a soft drink.

‘It’s been on the news,’ she said. ‘And I’ve already had two of my colleagues ring me. It’s shaken everyone to the core and they can’t believe it’s happened.’

James picked at his food as he spoke, and he tried to ignore the dull, deeply embedded ache behind his eyes.

When they lived in London Annie never took that much interest in the cases he worked on. Most of the crimes were committed in places she wasn’t familiar with, and there was nothing linking her to the victims. But here in this close-knit community it was different. Extreme acts of violence were rare and their impact was felt by everyone.

Annie listened in silence, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip, her features creased with emotion. She already knew much of what he told her, having monitored the news throughout the afternoon.