Sally said, ‘He’s a pretty solid sort of bloke. But it really seemed to have shaken him. He said that the hare was right in front of Beth. Its head had been smashed in and there was a length of baler twine round its neck. It had been garrotted and then its throat had been cut. It was total overkill. She must have completely lost it before she killed herself.’

‘Not much doubt that it was suicide, then?’

She shook her head. ‘Mark reckons not, but the coroner recorded a narrative verdict at the inquest.’

‘What does that mean?’

He must have looked as concerned as he felt about the thought that the coroner hadn’t entirely agreed with the fabulous DCI Stone’s opinion because Sally smiled and said, ‘Don’t worry. You haven’t got another Hungerbourne on your hands. The coroner can only return a verdict of suicide if it’s proven beyond reasonable doubt.’

‘And he didn’t think this was?’ David took a swig of his beer.

‘No, but only because she hadn’t left any sort of note or message. These days people will often text someone or post something on social media.’

David nearly spat out his beer. ‘You’re joking?’

Sally shook her head. ‘Happens all the time. But not with Beth. And the coroner said there was no evidence that she’d been depressed or worried.’

‘But surely anyone would have been depressed if they’d lost their job, broken up with their partner and been threatened by their new boss.’

Sally raised an eyebrow. ‘You’d think, wouldn’t you, but the coroner didn’t agree. He said he thought it was probably suicide, but as there was no note and no one who gave evidence noticed she’d been a bit low he couldn’t be sure beyond reasonable doubt.’

David wiped his plate with the last piece of his naan. ‘If you ask me, that says more about the people she had around her. No wonder she wanted to end it all.’

CHAPTER FOUR

‘He didn’t sound keen, but at least he agreed to come and talk to me about it.’ Clare couldn’t hide her disappointment. She’d been counting on Neil Fuller to help her pick up where Beth had left off. Things would be twice as difficult without him. But Jo had somehow managed to wangle her way out of her commitments at the university for a few days, and Clare was glad of it. Even the most insurmountable problems always seemed more manageable when Jo was around.

Jo said, ‘Is this Fuller guy nuts?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘With every unit in the country – correction, Europe – letting people go, where’s he gonna find another offer like this?’

‘I know, but the whole Beth thing must have been a bit traumatic for him. He sounded pretty shaken up by it.’

‘Was he there when they found her?’