Stacey decided not to say anything to Moore just yet. Ratty’s mother dying at the same time as her son was just too much of a coincidence. It needed investigating. Meanwhile, the body was about to be carted off to the undertaker. ‘Oh shit,’ she murmured to Jay as they hurried across to Ma Jones’s van, ‘this could be a bloody crime scene, and the world and his wife have been tramping all over it. Jay, tell them not to move her, and get everyone out of there stat. I’m ringing the DI.’

Having made the call, she hurried over to where Jay was talking to the paramedics.

‘Sorry, lads,’ she said, ‘but this may not be as simple as it seems. Can you tell me what you found when you got here?’

‘The site manager called it in,’ said the tall one. ‘He knew the old lady always got up early and he noticed her curtains were still closed. He knocked but received no answer, so he went in using his emergency key. She was still in bed and didn’t respond when he spoke to her. Des got here first,’ he indicated to the fire service responder. ‘When we got here it was clear she’d been dead some hours.’

‘Nothing disturbed?’ asked Stacey.

‘It’s a bit of a tip, but no sign of any struggle or anything. I’m sure she died in her bed.’

His crewmate added, ‘We pronounced her dead, but just to cover our backs we rang the local doctor that deals with most of the people who live here. He said he’d seen her recently, and she wasn’t in the best of health. Considering her age and her medical history, he wasn’t surprised in the least that she’d died, so we were quite happy to contact the undertaker.’

‘We’d have got you guys out here straightaway if we’d been in any way concerned,’ the tall medic said. ‘You know us, we call CID at the drop of a hat. We don’t get paid enough to take the responsibility.’

‘So what’s the problem?’ asked his crewmate.

Stacey lowered her voice. ‘Her son was murdered last night — but keep that to yourselves for the time being.’

‘Shit! I see why you’re so bothered,’ said his crewmate.

‘Yeah, of course.’ His colleague shook his head. ‘That is weird, isn’t it? He gets murdered, and his mother drops dead on the same night.’

‘Even so,’ said the tall one. ‘I’d swear it was a natural death.’

‘Let’s hope so. Meanwhile, I’ll have to wait for the DI, and then the pathologist if he thinks it’s necessary.’ She smiled at the two paramedics. ‘I don’t want to hold you lads up.’