He had never been inside The Fells Hotel but had driven past it on numerous occasions. It was situated on the lake’s eastern shore between the towns of Bowness and Ambleside.

The lake itself had always been one of Cumbria’s most popular tourist attractions and weddings took place at venues around it throughout the year.

James had read somewhere that more and more couples were choosing to get married on New Year’s Eve rather than during spring and summer. It didn’t surprise him since it gave guests two good reasons to celebrate. However, it also increased the likelihood that excessive drinking by some could cause problems.

He wondered if that was what had happened to Rachel Elliott. Had she become involved in a nasty altercation fuelled by booze?

James was only too aware of the statistics in that respect. They showed that almost half the violent crimes in the UK each year – including rapes, sexual assaults and robberies – were committed by offenders under the influence of alcohol.

When he’d worked in London, call-outs to pubs, clubs and parties were a nightly occurrence. He lost count a long time ago of the number of stabbings he investigated where the assailant was pissed.

Sadly, even cosy Cumbria had seen drink-related crimes soar in recent years. Since moving here he had been directly involved in two serious cases. In the first, a man was shot and wounded on a farm by his inebriated partner. In the second, a young woman was badly beaten at her own birthday bash by a youth who was off his head on various spirits. In both cases the offenders claimed they didn’t know what they were doing.

James could tell from the amount of traffic on the roads that it was going to be a busy night. No doubt the relatively calm weather had encouraged plenty of people to venture out. But it wasn’t expected to last. Forecasters were already warning of heavy snow and high winds in the days ahead.

He drove across the M6 onto the A684. When he reached Kendal, he joined the A591, which would take him all the way to his destination.

He radioed Control to tell them that he was on his way and they informed him that a forensics team had already arrived at the scene.

The Fells Hotel was in a part of the county that attracted hordes of tourists during the summer months. Windermere was the largest natural lake in England and was surrounded by historical buildings and attractions such as The World of Beatrix Potter and the National Park Visitor Centre.

It prided itself on being a safe and scenic environment, and James knew that if something bad had indeed happened to Rachel Elliott then it was going to cause quite a stir among the local residents and business owners.

CHAPTER THREE

A police patrol car was parked at the entrance to the driveway that led from the main road to the hotel. Its emergency light was flashing and the uniformed officer standing next to it waved James through when he wound down his window and identified himself.