James was keen to have more than one child, but he was also worried that they would be subjecting themselves to another long, drawn-out ordeal with no guarantee that things would turn out well.

He went into the kitchen and put the kettle on. While waiting for it to boil he picked up the box of chocolates he’d left on the worktop and placed it on a tray along with their coffee mugs.

He was reaching for the milk in the fridge when his phone rang, prompting him to exhale a loud expletive.

He closed the fridge and fished the phone out of his trouser pocket, frowning when he saw that the caller was Detective Constable Abbott. Wasn’t she supposed to be at the wedding of some wealthy businessman at a plush lakeside hotel? James wondered if she was ringing to wish him a Happy New Year.

‘I’m really sorry to bother you, guv,’ she said when he answered, and the sombre tone of her voice sent a tremor of unease rippling through him.

‘It’s no problem, Jessica,’ he replied. ‘Aren’t you and Sean at a wedding?’

‘We are, but something has happened and I had to call it in. The team members who are on duty are otherwise engaged and so the controllers were going to ring you and I said I’d do it for them.’

‘What’s up? It sounds serious.’

‘It is, guv, and I think you’re going to want to come here. A young woman who happens to be the bride’s sister and maid-of-honour suddenly disappeared in strange circumstances soon after the actual marriage ceremony. She was supposed to make a speech at the sit-down meal but was nowhere to be found. As she’s been missing for almost two hours guests and staff are searching for her as we speak, but I fear that something bad might have happened to her.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Well, her purse and broken glasses have been found on the hotel’s private jetty at the bottom of the garden.’

‘Are you thinking she might have fallen into the lake?’

‘That’s a possibility, for sure. But it might not be as straightforward as that. You see, her glasses are smeared with what looks like blood.’

James felt his stomach twist in an anxious knot.

‘In that case, remind me which hotel it is and I’ll head straight there,’ he said.

‘It’s The Fells on Lake Windermere.’

‘Okay, I know it. With luck I can be there in about forty minutes. Meanwhile, you need to lock the place down as best you can and call for uniformed backup.’

‘Units are already on their way along with a forensics team. And I’ve enlisted the help of the hotel’s staff and security officers who are making sure guests don’t leave and no new arrivals are allowed in.’

‘Good work. I suggest you also alert a diving team. From the sound of it we may well need them.’

‘I’ll get right onto it,’ Abbott said.

‘And before I hang up tell me who the woman is.’