‘You need to check what’s inside, sir,’ he said. ‘It seems Miss Elliott had made at least one enemy.’

James took the card and felt his stomach clench when he saw that the warm-hearted printed greeting had been scrubbed out and replaced with a handwritten message that read:

I hope you have a rotten birthday Rachel because I know it was you who gave those pictures to the paper and fucked me over.

Revenge might seem sweet now but I’m going to make sure that you come to regret what you did.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The birthday card was a major development and it raised a number of questions.

Who sent it? When was it sent? Did Rachel show it to the police? And was the writer of the threatening message the person who killed her?

The first thing James needed to find out was whether Rachel’s parents knew about it. They were sitting side by side on the sofa when he went back into the living room, with Officer Hartley on an armchair facing them. Denise had stopped crying and was sipping tea from a cup.

‘I need to ask you if you’ve seen this birthday card before, Mr and Mrs Elliott,’ he said.

He showed them the front of it first, a picture with bells either side of a fancy birthday cake.

They both shook their heads and Fraser said, ‘I thought she had thrown all her cards away. Where did you find it?’

‘In a drawer beneath her underwear,’ James replied. ‘When was her birthday?’

‘It was in early December; the eighth,’ Fraser said. ‘She turned twenty-five and received quite a few cards, as I recall.’

‘And she never drew your attention to this one in particular?’

The couple looked at each other, their brows creasing. This time it was Denise who asked the question.

‘Why do you want to know about the card, Inspector? What’s so special about it?’

‘Take a look at the message inside,’ James said. He held the card so that Fraser could see it but not touch it and Fraser read the message out loud.

The words sent a shockwave through his wife and she started shaking so much that Officer Hartley had to carefully remove the cup from her hands before she dropped it.

‘Rachel obviously didn’t want you to see it, but it would surely have upset her. Have you any idea who might have sent it?’

Once again, the couple turned to look at each other, both their faces registering alarm.

It was Fraser who broke eye contact after several seconds and switched his gaze first to Officer Hartley, and then to James.

‘There’s only one person it could have been,’ he said. ‘But that piece of shit wasn’t a guest at the wedding and wouldn’t have dared to show his face there.’

‘You need to tell me who you’re referring to,’ James said.

‘Douglas bloody Hannigan, of course,’ Fraser barked back. ‘Her ex-fiancé.’

James nodded. ‘I remember. You said he was involved in a drug scandal that was covered by the papers.’