‘That doesn’t surprise me,’ James said. ‘We have to accept that whoever did walk through the blood probably realised their mistake and got rid of the shoes afterwards. But it’s worth checking the inside of his car for traces.’

‘Definitely. In regards to Dean Foreman, DS Stevens just phoned to say that the guy’s agreed to come in to be interviewed,’ he said. ‘Apparently he refused to answer any of the questions that were put to him by DS Stevens and said he’ll only do so when his lawyer is present. He’s arranged for the brief to meet him here and Stevens is bringing him back now.’

‘Do we know if he has form?’ James asked.

‘He doesn’t, but he did appear on our radar about a year ago when we received a call from his wife who accused him of hitting her. She had a cut lip so we hauled him in and were in the process of pursuing a domestic abuse inquiry when she suddenly withdrew the accusation and told us she’d overreacted and that it was an accident. So, he walked.’

‘Do we know his shoe size?’

‘We do. A ten. Same as the bloody shoeprints.’

‘Give me a sheet with the details on so I’ve got them when I talk to him,’ James said.

He was then told that DCI Tanner had gone to Penrith to front the press conference that was due to start in half an hour. Also, Dr Flint had sent through preliminary results from the post-mortems. There were no surprises, though. Mr and Mrs Bateman had died from shotgun wounds and their daughter from severe internal injuries and loss of blood caused by the knife wound. There were no defensive wounds on any of the bodies and toxicology showed that they had all consumed varying amounts of alcohol and, in Charlotte’s case, a significant amount of weed.

It was then James’s turn to tell them about his and Abbott’s conversations with Heather Redgrave, Amy Bell and Fiona McCarthy. He referred to his notes throughout and said he would write them up and circulate them.

‘So, I want you to open up three new lines of inquiry,’ he said. ‘Track down the recluse who rents out his barn to bunches of drunks and druggies. See if you can find out why Charlotte was so upset a couple of weeks ago. Was it possible that the bad news she received had something to do with the killings? And finally, dig up whatever you can on this William Nash, the ex-boyfriend. He lives in Kirkby Abbey apparently. And he strikes me as someone we should talk to.’

As the team set to work, James went to his desk and called Tanner. After he had given him an update, the DCI said, ‘So it doesn’t change the line I’m taking, which is the appeal for information on the whereabouts of Neil Savage.’