‘You’re still looking at one person lifting a dead body out of a car boot and over the ledge before laying it out on the rocks. Either way, we’ve got to be looking at a killer and an accomplice, at the very least. It still makes Alice Clifton and Patrick Walsh our main suspects.’

‘But that makes no sense either. Why not dispose of the body somewhere else? Why lay him out in the middle of the biggest tourist attraction in the area? Roger disappeared off travelling enough and was pretty reclusive otherwise. They could’ve bumped him off, hidden the body and claimed ignorance. Everyone’d think he’d gone off on a jolly or disappeared. But instead they laid him out on full display, knowing damn well the estranged wife and her burly bit on the side would be prime suspects. Unless, of course, that was someone else’s intention.’

‘You mean someone framed Alice and Patrick?’

‘Well, put it this way. I can’t see them having pointed a massive arrow at themselves.’

‘That’s the thing, though. It’s almost too massive. As if it could be a double bluff.’

‘Theory again. And no real motive. Alice didn’t need Roger out of the way. Sure, he was an arsehole, but he wasn’t a problem for her. She had the house, they barely saw each other, she had no financial interest in the business. Far too much of a risk to kill Roger for virtually no gain.’

‘But that’s the problem. No-one had anything to gain from killing Roger. Other than the brother, I mean, but he wasn’t even in the country at the time.’

‘Yeah. I dunno. I still think we’re missing something historical. You’re right on the symbolism, but I think we’re looking in the wrong place. I think it’s historical symbolism, not religious.’

‘Is that based on theory or evidence?’ Caroline asked with a wry smile.

‘Copper’s intuition,’ Dexter joked.

‘Good luck getting that to stand up in court. Can you narrow it down at all?’

Dexter pursed his lips and shook his head. ‘Not really. But I agree with you on one thing: the killer chose the church for a reason.’

‘Then we need to find out more about the location. See if we can pin down a reason why it might’ve been picked. Sooner or later, things will start to piece together. What was the name of that history geek? The one with the stupid jumpers.’

‘Howard Smallwood?’

‘That’s the one. You still got his number?’

‘Yeah. Reckon it’s worth giving him a call?’

‘Probably not, but if it stops you moping about and means you’ll get on with stuff, it’s got to be worth investing ten minutes. Come on, follow me.’