‘I know I’ve probably woken you up, sir, and I’m really sorry,’ she said. ‘But you told me to call if we came up with anything inside Kenneth O’Connor’s house that might link him to the farm killings. Well, we have, and I thought you’d want me to tell you about it straight away.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Friday December 29th

The call from DC Isaac also woke Annie, and James told her to stay in bed as he got up and pulled on some clothes.

‘I won’t be long,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to pop around to Kenneth O’Connor’s place. I’ll come back before I go to the office and if you’re still awake I’ll make you some breakfast.’

He didn’t bother to wash or shower, but he did prepare himself for the harsh weather outside by putting on his thermal-lined parka and his hiking boots.

About four inches of snow had come down overnight, but thankfully it had stopped falling. A biting wind continued to whip through the village, though, and this made it feel colder than it was.

Before heading to O’Connor’s house, James crossed the road to tell the two officers in the unmarked pool car where he was going. He was glad to see that they were both awake and seemed fully alert.

As he then set off on the short walk, he wondered if this was going to be the breakthrough he’d been waiting for. DC Isaac had told him on the phone that they had found a jewellery box that had belonged to Mary Bateman and James was anxious to see it before it was carted off to the forensic lab to be examined.

Two uniforms were standing outside the house when he got there, but the street was otherwise empty.

Inside, the SOCOs were still beavering away and one of them told James that DC Isaac was waiting for him in the living room.

She was writing in her notebook when he walked in and the first thing that she did was point at the coffee table.

‘There it is, sir,’ she said, as she handed him a pair of latex gloves from her pocket. ‘It was found at the back of a clothes drawer in O’Connor’s bedroom.’

On the table was a large Vintage style leather jewellery box. The lid was up and the small compartments were packed with jewellery. There was also a single drawer that had been pulled open to reveal more pieces.

James wriggled his hands into the gloves before picking up a thin gold bracelet.

‘I’ve checked and the box contains twenty pieces of jewellery, sir,’ Isaac said. ‘There are five bracelets, two lockets on chains, two crosses on chains, seven sets of earrings and four rings. Some of the items look really old.’

‘And how do you know that these belonged to Mrs Bateman?’ James asked her.