Finn shook his head. “No, you’re all right. I’ve got a lot of work to do today, so if you have time to read it that would be great.” He frowned. “I’m not sure what this has to do with Persis, though—or Gabriel for that matter.”

“Neither am I,” Lucy admitted, “except that Persis went to Chastleton with Charlie, apparently, and was passing herself off as his research assistant. I’m assuming she didn’t tell you about their trip?” she added to Finn.

Finn shook his head. “No, but maybe...” He shrugged. “I dunno. It is a bit odd, but maybe she just forgot.”

“Well, that’s Persis,” Johnny said. “She is a bit erratic, And as for the assistant thing, she was probably just bigging herself up.”

“My theory is that Gabriel was after the same book Charlie wanted, and was breaking in last night to try and find it,” Cleo said. “Lucy saw him and Persis at Chastleton yesterday, acting weirdly, like there was something there that they didn’t want her to discover. Isn’t that right, Luce?”

“Put like that, it all sounds rather vague and circumstantial,” Lucy admitted, seeing the skepticism on Johnny’s and Finn’s faces. “All we know for sure is that someone had the old key to the barn and that you surprised them out in the yard last night, Cleo. Hopefully the police will track them down.”

“It could have been the same person who trashed the archaeology site,” Finn said thoughtfully, “if the timings fit. Maybe they were coming up from the valley when they bumped into Cleo. The most important thing—” he looked at Lucy “—is that the barn is secure and that you’re okay until this is all sorted out. Do you want to move up here with us? There’s plenty of space, even with Johnny and Geoffrey and me.”

Geoffrey chose that minute to dash into the kitchen, looking supremely upset, Lucy thought, that no one had saved him any of the bacon. “I’d love to move in with Geoffrey,” she said, stroking his head, “but I’ll be fine, thanks. The barn is very secure, there are new locks and the police are on the case.”

“Well, we’ll be around keeping an eye on things,” Finn said, and seeing the determined jut of his jaw, Lucy decided not to argue.

“Thanks for the bacon roll, Johnny,” she said, getting up from the table. “It was delicious. Come on, Cleo—” She turned to her sister. “You’ve got a shop to open and I’ve got a couple of books to read.”

“I’ll go down and get started on the trench at the barn,” Johnny said. He looked from Lucy to Finn. “Do you want to come and take a look at the work we’re doing before you go back, Cleo? Have you got time?”

“Sure,” Cleo said warmly. “I’d love that, thanks.”

Finn put a hand on Lucy’s arm as she went to follow them out. “Are you free later?” he asked. “It would be good to have a chat—just the two of us. If you’ve had the chance to read that book about Robert Catesby by then, we could discuss anything that might be relevant to the dig.”