When he turned to face her, he was a picture of calm, the resentment and anger so evident before dissipated. ‘When I first met Beth, one of the things that attracted me to her was her intellect. No one could be in any doubt that she had a razor-sharp mind, but she didn’t shout about it. It was plain for everyone to see. I used to love working with her on projects, sharing the buzz of discovery. Being with her was energising. But as she got more recognition, things began to change. All she wanted to do was the research. She had no interest in the day-to-day stuff academics have to do. No one likes it, but we all have to knuckle down and get on with it. But Beth thought her work was too important for her to be bothered with that. It was the same at home. Everything else could go hang. She spent more time living in the Iron Age than she did in the twenty-first century.

‘She was focusing more and more on Celtic death and sacrifice; it was all-consuming. And things started to get really difficult between us. Our whole house became like a shrine to the long-dead. Most people have wallpaper – we had pictures of garrotted bog bodies and chariot burials. It destroyed our relationship. The university put up with it all the time it was upping their research scores in the REF, but eventually they couldn’t even get her to submit the paperwork for that. It was impacting on all of us reputationally.’ He hesitated. ‘And there were worries about the effect it was having on her students too. It wasn’t healthy.’

Clare asked, ‘So, what happened?’

‘It was inevitable really. Paints – Professor Clive Painter – put up with it for as long as he could. He’s been in post for years. He’s a nice old boy, but he was a bit long in the tooth to be in charge of a department. In the end even he could see that the only answer was for Beth to leave the department.’

‘So she was sacked.’

‘As good as.’

‘And that’s when she took Bailsgrove on.’

He nodded. ‘Not long after that. Shows how deluded she’d become. From academic stardom to a nothing contract job in the middle of Christ knows where.’

Craig obviously wasn’t any sort of diplomat. But she hadn’t come here to have her ego massaged. She needed answers.

She fixed a smile in place. ‘When I asked you before whether you were surprised when you heard Beth had taken her own life, you didn’t seem certain. But you seem to be suggesting that she wasn’t entirely stable. And that her fortunes declined rather rapidly. Did her suicide really come totally out of the blue?’