‘There must be a deep love of learning in there somewhere, though. You certainly seem keen enough to me.’

‘Oh yeah, definitely. I just like doing it on my own terms, you know? I think joining the police was a bit of a rebellion, too.’

‘What, you didn’t actually want to do it?’

Dexter shook his head. ‘Not really. But I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I figured this’d piss my parents off the most.’

Caroline laughed. ‘Well, it was a good move on all counts. You’re not too bad at it, you know.’

They arrived at the address in Empingham, greeted by an elaborate set of cast-iron gates. The house that stood at the end of the driveway beyond was impressive, to say the least. It was clear Roger Clifton had earned some money in his time, especially if he was happy to live elsewhere and leave this place to his wife.

‘Blimey. Who’d have thought it?’ Dexter said. ‘You’ve got wankers putting signs saying “Elm Cottage” and “The Willows” on their two-bed semi, then you run into a mansion like this — house number 27. Crazy.’

Before Caroline could get out of the car, the gates clicked and whirred open, allowing them to coast up the long gravel driveway towards the front of the house. As they reached it, the front door opened and a woman stepped out.

She was clearly younger than Roger had been — forty, tops. Her body language made it seem more like she was welcoming an old friend, as opposed to the police officers investigating her husband’s death.

‘Hi, Alice Clifton. Pleasure to meet you. Come on in,’ she said, her voice like velvet.

The hallway was more akin to the lobby of a posh hotel than someone’s actual house, and there was a clear rivalry between marble and gold leaf for the title of Most Overused Material. Alice led Caroline and Dexter through to a large kitchen diner, seating them at a long, ornate counter — marble, naturally. It occurred to Caroline that marble wasn’t the ideal choice of stone in a kitchen and wondered what Alice Clifton did about the inevitable staining, but quickly realised she’d probably just shell out a few grand on a new one.

Once the formalities were cleared, Caroline decided to get down to some more detailed questioning.

‘Can you describe your relationship with your husband for me?’ she asked, before taking a sip of the hot black coffee Alice had placed in front of her.

She looked at Caroline for a moment before speaking. ‘That’s an odd way of putting it. Who’ve you been talking to? Oh, I guess it doesn’t matter. Everyone’s relationship is different, isn’t it? Roger and I weren’t the conventional couple, if that’s what you mean. I think “estranged” is probably the word you’d use.’

‘Can you elaborate please?’