He pushed his pint away from him. And after a few moments he nodded. ‘I don’t know how to tell you this. But you girls have been so good to me. I want to be straight with you.’

It was plain for anyone to see that Crabby’s anxiety was genuine enough. His normally ruddy complexion was drained of all colour, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. He leant back in his seat and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again he stared into space and said simply, ‘It was me.’

Confused, Clare asked, ‘What was you, Crabby?’

He turned to face them. ‘It was me what dug them holes. Or at least I put the stuff in ’em.’

Clare looked at Jo. Jo looked as dumbstruck as she did.

After a few seconds Jo said, ‘But why would you want to go and do a thing like that?’

The Druid put his head in his hands. ‘To stop them building on it.’

Clare said, ‘But I thought you wanted them to build the houses.’

Crabby nodded. ‘I do. But not there. Not on sacred ground. That hilltop’s a special place. Always has been. Mum used to take me up there to the beech grove when I was a nipper. She could feel it too – I could tell she could. She was taken from us young – the big C. My old man scattered her ashes up there. He remarried, but it was never the same after Mum died. I used to go up there when him and his new missus were rowing – to be with Mum. That’s when I got interested in the old ways. It made sense to me, being at one with the earth. With what had gone before. Natural like.’

Clare said softly, ‘I can see that, Crabby. But I don’t understand why you thought planting finds on the site was going to stop them building.’

Crabby said, ‘It was Sheila’s idea.’

Clare lowered her voice. ‘Sheila Foggarty. The parish councillor.’

Crabby nodded. ‘That’s the one. We don’t see eye to eye about everything, but she knows I don’t want them building up there any more than she does. When Beth first started to dig on the site we figured she might find something that would stop Marshall building. She was so sure there’d been something there. But after a bit, when nothing was turning up, that’s when Sheila came to see me. She reckoned if we could get enough stuff of the right sort together and plant it on-site, when Beth dug it up she’d be able to stop the houses being built. I wasn’t sure at first, but Sheila convinced me. She’s used to getting what she wants.’ The Druid smiled. ‘Except at home, that is.’

Clare asked, ‘Why’s that?’