‘That’s useful to know,’ James said. ‘Now, before we leave, can you please tell us what else you know about Mark Slade?’

‘I know that he was married but his wife left him after only a year amid rumours of domestic abuse and they haven’t yet divorced. He lives in Kendal and has made pots of money over the years as an online market trader. Oh, he also co-owns the golf course and club where Greg plays.’

At that, James saw Abbott start and remembered that she’d told him that Sean was a member at the same club as Greg Murphy.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

‘Sean has never mentioned Slade’s name to me,’ Abbott said once they’d left Belinda Travers’s room. ‘But then, whenever he comes back from golf, he only talks about how the game went and whether he’s won or lost. He knows I’m not hugely interested in the specifics.’

‘Well, we can sound him out now before we go and talk to Slade,’ James said. ‘See if he knows the guy and what he makes of him. Belinda certainly painted an unpleasant picture.’

‘Did you believe her?’

‘Absolutely. He sounds like a bad ’un. And it’s easy to imagine that he could be our killer.’

‘I agree. Based on his record and the suggestion that he was an abusive husband during a pretty short marriage, he clearly has no qualms about attacking women.’

‘It seems it doesn’t take much to ignite his temper,’ James agreed.

Abbott nodded. ‘A few years ago, I worked on a case involving a bloke just like him. He went from stalking women to beating up a teenage girl who refused to have sex with him. But we didn’t manage to collar the bastard until after he’d put another woman in hospital.’

‘I’ve got a bunch of similar stories from my days in the Met,’ James told her. ‘But we’ll save those for another time. For now, let’s go check in with your fella.’

On the way, Abbott took out her phone and showed James a photo she’d snapped just after the marriage ceremony had concluded.

‘That’s Mark Slade,’ she said, pointing at the screen.

He was a bulky man, James noted, with a head of thick brown hair and a square-jawed face. Interestingly, he was standing next to Rachel in the photo and it looked as though he had an arm around her waist.

It was almost 7 a.m. by now and Sean was watching the news on the TV in their room. He looked like he hadn’t been to bed and told Abbott that he’d just given a statement to a PC.

‘The officer was taken aback when I told her that I was your fiancé and we were among the wedding guests,’ he said to Abbott.

‘I don’t think word has got around yet,’ she replied. ‘What else did you tell her?’

‘Only that I didn’t witness anything suspicious and that I didn’t go down to the jetty at any point before Rachel was declared missing and the search for her began.’