The man held the door open and stood aside. The lounge he showed them to was dated but tidy. ‘Have a seat, Officers. I was expecting a visit from the local council about the rubbish in next-door’s garden. It’s going to attract rats before long. It was bad when the Becker woman left, but it’s getting worse now.’

‘I’m afraid we can’t help you with that, sir, but anything you can tell us about Andrea Becker would be most useful.’ Kevin flashed a hopeful smile.

‘She left ages ago, her and her fancy man. Felix — that was her husband — was out driving that day. He was a long-distance lorry driver, and the poor devil had no idea what had been going on. He was devastated when he got back. I had to give him a brandy for the shock.’

‘Did you know the man she left with, sir?’ asked Gary.

‘Skip the sir, Officer. My name is Don Robbins. They had no idea I knew him, but I’ve got a good memory for faces, and I recognised him as the owner of a builder’s yard down near the station, name of Hereward. I’d see him sneaking in the back way when Felix was off on long haul.’ He pulled a face. ‘None of my business what folks get up to, but I was really sorry for Felix. He stayed on for around three months, but he couldn’t hack it without Andi. The place was getting into a terrible state, so he sold up and moved on.’

‘Do you have an address for him, Mr Robbins?’ asked Kevin.

Don Robbins stood up. ‘As a matter of fact, I do. I said I’d forward his mail for him. Our postie used to drop the letters off with me and I’d send them on.’ He went out of the room to look for it.

‘That’s a stroke of luck,’ whispered Kevin. ‘The husband might well know about Nan Cutler and what happened to make them hate each other.’

Gary nodded. ‘Absolutely, and I get the feeling Mr Robbins wasn’t keen on her either.’

‘Here it is.’ Robbins was back, holding out a slip of paper. ‘He lives Fenchester way now.’

‘I gather you weren’t too friendly with Andrea, Mr Robbins?’ Kevin said.

Robbins looked uncomfortable. ‘It had nothing to do with her infidelity. As I said, that was her business. But I’ll be frank, she was a hypocrite, and that’s something I can’t tolerate. Say what you mean, say something decent or shut up. Don’t say one thing to one and something different to another. She was little short of Mother Teresa to her cronies at the church, but I saw a different side. And it wasn’t exactly spiritual.’

‘Anything specific that you can remember?’ asked Gary.

Robbins looked at them. ‘Has this got anything to do with old Nan Cutler?’