Judith put a sweet into her mouth and pretended to be insouciant as she said, ‘Then perhaps I should tell you about Andy Bishop as well.’

‘Who’s Andy Bishop?’

‘A local solicitor. He drew up the will of Ezra Harrington, the neighbour to Iqbal Kassam.’

‘What are you talking about?’

Judith told the story of how Suzie had been invited to Iqbal’s funeral and so she, Becks and Suzie had all gone along and talked to his imam, who’d explained how Iqbal had died believing that Andy Bishop had stolen his inheritance. However, Judith was careful to stop her story there. After seeing how cross Tanika had been about her conversation with Liz, she didn’t want to tell her that she’d not only spoken to Andy Bishop but had also broken into his office and stolen a bag of shredded paper.

‘You went to Iqbal Kassam’s funeral?’ Tanika asked when Judith finished.

‘We were invited, so we went. It was the right thing to do. Are you sure you don’t want a sweet?’ Judith said, offering the tin again.

‘No thank you,’ Tanika said, and Judith had the distinct impression that the police officer was barely managing to control her temper as she opened the door to her car and stepped out.

Judith put her tin back in her handbag, and got out of her side of the car.

‘Is there anything else you need to tell me?’ Tanika asked tartly.

‘Oh no, that’s absolutely everything,’ Judith said, and she even believed her words as she said them. But then her eyes were drawn to a navy blue Forensics tent that had been erected on the grass down by the river.

Tanika saw Judith frown, and she softened a little.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘You don’t need to approach the body. You can identify her from the photos we’ve taken. That should be enough.’

Tanika led Judith into the reception building, and Judith couldn’t help but notice the ladder, paint pot and brush that were still in the corner. Liz would never finish painting the room. Somehow Judith found this fact sadder than anything else. The bathos of it all.

‘I’m sorry to ask you to do this, Judith, but the only other person I could have asked was the scoutmaster who discovered her body, and he’s a bit busy trying to care for the scouts who were with him at the time.’

‘Don’t worry, I’m happy to help. But where’s Danny, her husband?’

‘In Nottingham. A police officer’s driving him down as we speak.’

‘Then I’m ready. I can do this.’

Tanika took a tablet computer from a police officer who was logging evidence. Bringing it over to Judith, she warned her that the photos would be upsetting.

‘Don’t worry, I’m made of strong stuff.’