‘Well, her boyfriend, the one you’re looking for, was unemployed and still is as far as I know. He came here several times trying to get Charlotte to give him things for free. She always refused, but once he looked like he was drunk and swore at her in front of me before storming off. And then another time a bloke she used to go out with popped in to wish her well in her new job. He seemed nice enough, but when he was gone Charlotte told me that he gave her the creeps. She said he had never fully accepted that their relationship was over, and turned up wherever she went.’

James felt his adrenaline spike. ‘Do you know the name of this former boyfriend?’

‘I’m sure she said it was William. That’s right. William Nash. I made a mental note to remember it in case I saw him lurking around outside the shop.’

‘And do you know if he lives here in Kendal?’

‘I know for sure that he doesn’t,’ she replied. ‘I distinctly recall Charlotte telling me that he lives in Kirkby Abbey and that they used to go to school together.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

James was feeling cautiously optimistic as they arrived back at the station.

They now had a couple of new leads to follow up as well as some more useful information on Charlotte. But he had to remind himself that she was only one of the victims of the Oaktree Farm killings. They still needed to find out more about her parents, especially her father, as he’d recently become the target of some animosity.

The first question he asked when the team was back together was where they were with Kenneth O’Connor and Dean Foreman.

‘We now have a warrant to search O’Connor’s home and car,’ DC Patterson said. ‘As soon as you give the go-ahead, guv, we can exercise it.’

James didn’t hesitate. ‘I think we should. Contact him by phone and tell him what’s happening so he can come back from his property search in Carlisle. And I want the house subjected to a full forensic sweep. Despite what he told me he has to be a serious contender for three reasons: he lives in Kirkby Abbey so he’s pretty close to Oaktree Farm, he recently fell out with Robert Bateman and he doesn’t have anyone to confirm his claims he was at home for most of Christmas Eve before driving over to Windermere to visit his brother about the time the killings might have taken place. If he’s lied about anything then there might well be something in the house that gives him away.’

‘On that note, forensics have come back to say that the photos you took of his shoe soles have been compared with the impressions found at the house and they’re not a match, although they are the same size,’ Patterson said.