She said, ‘Why do you think? Because I knew you’d react like this. Though clearly I had no idea you’d wait until the wee small hours of the morning to do it.’

‘If someone threatens my site staff I want to know about it, Clare.’

‘Nothing happened, David.’

David said, ‘That’s not the way Jo tells it. She said Neil had to strong-arm Marshall off-site.’

‘That’s a bit of an exaggeration, David.’

Clare didn’t know what she’d have done over the last couple of years without Jo around. But why on earth had she had to go and tell David about Marshall? She should have known he was bound to overreact. It’s what he did best.

David asked, ‘Where are you anyway? And when are you coming back?’

‘I’m in the Peak District. And if all you’re worried about is getting your pound of flesh from me you needn’t be. I’ll be back on-site first thing Monday morning.’

She could hear him harrumphing down the phone. ‘What the hell are you doing in the Peak District?’

‘They’re called holidays, David, most people take them.’ Though in truth she knew he rarely did. ‘I wanted to take a look at one of Beth’s old sites – Wrackley Cop.’

‘That’s a hill fort, isn’t it? Nothing like our site.’

She had no intention of dignifying that with a response. ‘While I’ve been up here I’ve had a very informative chat with Beth’s old head of department, Clive Painter.’

‘While you were on Wrackley Cop.’

She said, ‘No. I bumped into him at a talk he was giving.’

‘Bumped into! What are you playing at, Clare? We haven’t got time for you to go chasing ghosts. You’ve got enough on your hands trying to finish digging a site started by a madwoman.’

The derision in his voice was all too clear. She’d had enough now.