She put the coffee on his desk, and he nodded a thank you. She took a sip of the tea, which was surprisingly refreshing after all the running around she’d been doing. A few minutes later, Barnes put the report down on the desk and removed his glasses. He opened his desk drawer and removed a packet of Sobranie Black Russian cigarettes and a gold Dupont lighter. Opening the pack, he offered one to Jane, who politely declined. He removed one of the long black cigarettes by its gold filter, which was decorated with a double-headed eagle, lit it and inhaled deeply before slowly blowing out the smoke. He folded his reading glasses and put them in the breast pocket of his jacket.

‘Your report is very informative and well written, Tennison. Is there anything you’d like to add?’

She told him about the cross, detailing the engraving and possible significance of the date and initials on it.

‘If the cross is the victim’s, it would be reasonable to assume she was murdered sometime after February 1958,’ Barnes surmised.

‘That’s what I was thinking,’ Jane said. ‘I’ve been told the convent was sold to the developer in 1965, so we are only looking at a possible seven-year time span.’

‘I agree, but you must also consider the cross may have been put on the nun to fool anyone who found her.’

‘You think the cross could belong to whoever killed her?’

He took a puff of the cigarette. ‘It’s not beyond the realm of possibility someone religious, such as a priest, killed her. Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’

Jane knew the quote was from Sherlock Holmes, and wondered if Barnes was trying to impress her.

‘I was told the diocese keep records of all the nuns in their district, so it shouldn’t be difficult to identify individuals with the initials MR,’ Jane said.

‘Who gave you the information about the diocesan records?’ he asked.

‘Father Christopher Floridia. He’s the priest at St Mary’s, which is just down the road from the old convent.’

‘I didn’t see his name mentioned in your report.’

Jane hesitated. ‘I didn’t think it relevant to the investigation, though he was very helpful and informative regarding—’

Barnes folded his arms and tilted his head. ‘Did you tell him the nun was murdered?’

Jane suspected that if she said yes, she’d be taken off the investigation.

‘No, sir,’ she said quickly. She then explained that she’d sought his advice prior to the post-mortem. ‘I wanted to know what the religious rules were regarding consecrated ground and who I should inform if there was, or wasn’t, a body in the coffin. He did ask me to let him know the outcome, so out of courtesy I phoned him after the PM—’

He leaned forward to interrupt. ‘And what did you tell him?’