‘But, you know, I’m guessing that he just ended up on some kind of bender and has been sleeping in a hedge all night. He’ll probably limp home with a massive hangover and minus a shoe, any minute now. He might have left his phone at work. I just wondered if he’d crashed at your place last night. I know you had your monthly staff lunch, and he often has to get a cab home after that. I’m always asking him if the Earl knows how much of Minstead House’s budgets go on Ralph’s alcohol habit.’ She laughed mirthlessly.

‘I am a bit worried about his drinking,’ Meredith said, feeling like the hypocrite she knew she was. ‘He didn’t stay at mine last night, but he was drinking in his office after lunch. He texted me about five-ish to ask if I wanted to come up and have a drink with him then, but I’m really busy at the moment, getting ready for the stocktake, so I didn’t.’

She felt as if there was something obstructing her throat and swallowed hard.

‘It’s weird, Paula. His car’s still here. I saw it this morning on my way in. If he hasn’t come home, I think you should ring the hospitals. Maybe he couldn’t get a cab and decided to walk into the village, and had some sort of accident on the way. Or perhaps he’s collapsed somewhere. You hear these stories. Ceri hasn’t mentioned him leaving his phone in the office.’

‘I’m worried about his drinking too,’ Paula said in a small voice. ‘It’s got worse lately. You could be right. I’ve been thinking the same – but I was just waiting for him to come rolling in, in the early hours. I’ve been lying awake all night, planning the bollocking I was going to give him.’

‘Are you seeing clients today?’

‘No, I only had two booked in and I’ve cancelled them both.’

Paula was a psychotherapist, practising from a big studio in their garden. Meredith had often thought that was an unsafe thing to do, but Paula always brushed off her concerns with a blithe wave of the hand and pointed out that where Meredith lived was far riskier, being so isolated. ‘Yeah, but I don’t invite mentally unstable people to my house,’ Meredith would counter.

‘I’ve got to go upstairs for our heads of department meeting in a minute,’ she said now. ‘If he’s not there, I’ll check with Ceri to see if he’s rung in sick. She didn’t say he had this morning when I took Dexter out for his walk, though … Keep me posted, won’t you? And try not to worry…’ To her horror, her voice cracked.