Jane and Boon looked at each other as they got up and headed to the door. Stanley stood as they entered his office.

Barnes threw the newspaper down on the desk. ‘How the fuck did this happen?’

Stanley looked stunned as he read the headline. ‘I have no idea, sir.’

Barnes picked up the newspaper and threw it at Jane.

She looked at the headline and her heart sank: MURDERED NUN’S BODY FOUND ON CONVENT BUILDING SITE. She thought of Nick reading it, knowing she’d lied to him. She wanted to make an excuse to leave the room and phone him, but she knew she couldn’t.

‘The article even suggests the bodies of children may be buried on the grounds!’ Barnes exclaimed, looking daggers at Jane and Boon. ‘Have either of you been shooting your mouth off?’

‘I haven’t spoken to the press,’ Jane said.

‘Me neither,’ Boon said.

‘Well, someone bloody well has!’ Barnes shouted. ‘If I find out one of you is lying to me, your career is over!’

Boon noticed the paper wasn’t a tabloid. ‘The Bromley News Shopper is a local weekly paper, sir . . .’

‘Which is exactly why I think someone from this office is the leak,’ Barnes said. ‘I specifically said I wanted this investigation kept quiet. If someone connected with the Church was involved in the murder, you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll do their best to cover it up. We had the upper hand and now we’ve lost it.’

Boon looked at the paper again. ‘Sir . . .’

‘This had better be good, Boon,’ Barnes snapped.

‘This article was written by Rebecca Rogers—’

‘What a brilliant observation. And there was me thinking you’d tell me something I didn’t know.’

Boon felt intimidated but was determined to finish. ‘She might be related to PC Rogers, the coroner’s officer at Queen Mary’s mortuary. He had a run-in with the coroner about his handling of the nun’s case. His home address will be on file. I could check the electoral register and see if a Rebecca Rogers is shown at the same address.’

Barnes’s anger abated slightly. ‘Let’s hope you’re right. Go and do it now.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Boon hurried out of the room.

‘I think you may be right about the Church being involved in a cover-up, sir,’ Jane said, knowing this would get Barnes’s attention and hopefully divert his anger.

‘And why is that?’ he asked, lighting one of his Sobranie cigarettes as he sat down.

Jane told Barnes about Bishop Meade’s visit to the mortuary.

‘I find it hard to understand why a long-standing member of the Church, who must have dealt with hundreds of deaths, would be so distressed at the death of one nun,’ she said.

‘How certain are you it was Meade who went to the mortuary?’ he asked.