He stepped up to the patrol car, pulled open the back door and stared down at him.

‘Care to explain why you don’t want this search to take place?’ he said. ‘What is it you don’t want us to find?’

O’Connor’s face was flushed with anger and blood vessels bulged at his temples.

‘I’m not hiding anything and I’ve already let you look around,’ he responded. ‘I thought that would be it. But then I suddenly got a call to tell me you’re sending the fucking troops in. I’ve done nothing wrong so I don’t see why I should let you tear my place apart.’

‘That explanation is just not convincing,’ James said. ‘You’re clearly worried that my officers will turn up something that will either embarrass or incriminate you. So, what is it?’

‘You’ve got it wrong. Honestly. I just panicked and hit out.’

James shrugged. ‘Suit yourself, Mr O’Connor. You’re going to be formally charged with assaulting a police officer and tomorrow morning I’ll be talking to you at the station – and confronting you with whatever we find here.’

James shut the door and signalled for the officers to take him to Kendal.

He then instructed the SOCOs, who had been waiting in the forensic van, to go into the house.

DC Patterson was one of two detectives who had come from the office. The other was DC Dawn Isaac. James told her to take charge and ordered Patterson to go and get his nose seen to.

Then to Isaac, he said, ‘I live just around the corner from here so if you need me don’t hesitate to call.’

Before calling time on the working day, James phoned Tanner to update him on the interview with William Nash and the situation with O’Connor.

The boss had just arrived back in the office from Penrith and said he would make a point of talking to O’Connor when he was brought in.

‘I’d keep a close eye on him, sir,’ James said. ‘He used to work on Oaktree Farm. Robert Bateman sacked him for allegedly stealing from them. O’Connor was furious and they fell out. It almost came to blows between them at least once, and there’s something just not sitting right about it all.’

‘Thanks, James. I’ll get someone to dig out whatever else we have on the guy and will let you know if anything comes of it.’

James made one more call before going home, this time to DS Stevens, who told him that the search of Dean Foreman’s house in Penrith was still under way.