‘Which way now?’ Nelson asks.

‘Left. Towards Fence.’

‘Jesus. What sort of a person lives in a godforsaken place like this?’

‘The same sort of person who lives on the Saltmarsh,’ says Cathbad, with a sly sideways glance.

Nelson doesn’t reply. He might not approve of Ruth’s choice of location (it’s no place to bring up a child) but he doesn’t like anyone else to criticise her. Besides, Ruth’s nothing like this Pendragon nutcase.

They reach the steep valley with the white house in the middle, like the epiglottis in a giant throat. Nelson parks the car by the gate and they approach the cottage on foot. As they walk, the wind suddenly picks up and the stunted trees on the hill lash to and fro. A flock of birds flies overhead, low and sinister.

‘Why the hell hasn’t he got a proper drive?’ asks Nelson. He could walk all day on pavements but something about the countryside makes him uneasy.

‘He hasn’t got a car,’ says Cathbad.

‘Typical.’

This time Pendragon does not come out to meet them, gun in hand. Perhaps some sixth sense has told him that this isn’t a good idea with a policeman around. They reach the front door undisturbed.

‘Pen!’ shouts Cathbad. ‘It’s me. Cathbad.’

His voice echoes dramatically around the valley. Pen, pen, pen, pen. Bad, bad, bad, bad …

‘I knew he’d be out,’ says Nelson.’ That’s what you get for not being on the phone. He’s probably gone to some wizard’s tea party.’

Cathbad tries the handle. The door opens. The next moment a solid wedge of fur and muscle flies at him.

‘Jesus.’ Nelson takes a step back.

‘It’s OK,’ says Cathbad, from a sitting position on the hearthrug. ‘He’s friendly.’

‘I can see that,’ says Nelson, rather ashamed of his reaction. He likes dogs and once owned a German Shepherd called (funnily enough) Max.

‘Hello, boy,’ says Cathbad, getting to his feet. ‘Where’s your master?’

‘Away with the fairies,’ says Nelson, looking round the low-ceilinged room with its twinkling dream-catchers. It’s like stepping back in time, he thinks. No TV, no telephone. Not even, unless he’s much mistaken, any electric light. His worst fears are realised when Cathbad lights an oil lamp to search the rest of the house. Thing, apparently undisturbed, lies down in front of the fire.

Nelson squats down and examines the embers. Still smouldering. Wherever he is, Pendragon can’t have gone far.

*

Susan Chow is a small, neat woman who makes Ruth feel like she’s more than usually enormous. She and Kate seem to fill Susan’s little office above the county library. First the pushchair gets stuck in the doorway, then Ruth can’t manoeuvre herself around the wheels to sit at the desk opposite Susan. Eventually she manages, knocking over a pile of books and a papier-mâché model of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure. She leaves Kate in the pushchair, hoping that her picture book will keep her entertained. It’s a present from Cathbad, a rather New-Agey publication called Sun, Moon, Stars. Kate loves it and refuses to be parted from it. Now she sucks a page ruminatively.

‘Thanks for seeing me,’ says Ruth, setting the enclosure back on the desk.

‘My pleasure,’ says Susan. ‘I was so sorry to hear about Dan.’

‘Me too,’ says Ruth. She doesn’t know what to say when people seem to offer her condolences about Dan. She isn’t qualified to accept them; she hasn’t seen him for nearly twenty years. All she can do is say that she’s sorry too.

‘I wanted to ask you,’ says Ruth, ‘about the day when Dan excavated the skeleton at Ribchester. You were there, weren’t you?’

‘Yes,’ says Susan, frowning slightly. ‘It was a very exciting find.’

‘I know,’ says Ruth. She hasn’t yet told Susan about the switched bones, though she knows she will have to. Now she says, ‘The bones were taken straight to the forensics lab, weren’t they?’

‘Yes,’ says Susan, sounding rather defensive. ‘I was satisfied that there was no need for an autopsy. The bones were sealed inside the tomb and we could date that pretty accurately. Mid to late fifth century.’

‘But was it standard for the bones to go to a specialist laboratory? Why not the university?’

Susan straightens the pens on her desk. ‘Clayton Henry felt they’d be safer at the laboratory. I don’t know if you know, Doctor Galloway, but there has been some unrest at Pendle recently. Far-right groups who might feel a particular interest in this find.’

‘Because of the possible connection with King Arthur?’

Susan inclines her head. ‘That’s correct.’

‘How would they have known?’

‘Word gets out. You know what universities are like.’

Ruth does know. When she got pregnant, her students knew before her parents did.

‘Did you see the bones when Dan was excavating?’ asks Ruth.

Susan looks surprised. ‘Yes. He did the actual excavation but we were all observing.’

‘All?’

‘Me, Professor Henry, his wife, some students, a few volunteers. Why do you ask?’

Ruth doesn’t answer straight away. Instead she asks, ‘Was Dan satisfied that there was just one skeleton in the tomb?’

Now Susan looks definitely intrigued. ‘Yes. We all saw it. The body was laid out in a supine position, arms across the chest, palms in pronation.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Dan thought the skeleton was definitely male, full grown, adult teeth erupted. Cause of death unclear, no obvious signs of trauma or disease. He guessed the age at about fifty, perhaps older. Of course we won’t know until the test results come back.’

‘Did you see Dan take any samples of tooth and bone for testing?’

‘Yes. He did it at the site.’

‘Where did he take them?’

‘Back to the university, I presume. Doctor Galloway, what is all this about?’

As briefly as possible, Ruth explains her discovery at CNN Forensics. Susan Chow looks completely stunned.

‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure there were at least two different bodies. I’ve sent samples for C14 testing and isotope analysis. Then I’ll know whether they’re from the same period or not.’

‘I can’t believe it.’

‘Professor Chow,’ says Ruth, rocking the pushchair with her foot. Kate has started to make ominous growling noises. ‘Who drove the bones to the lab?’

Susan frowns. ‘I think it was one of the students.’

‘Guy Delaware?’

‘Yes, I think so.’

‘Do you know Guy at all?’

‘Only by sight. He was one of Dan’s students.’

‘Guy says that he was fully involved in the excavation. “A joint project,” he said.’

Susan smiles, rather sadly, as if she is remembering something.

‘Guy might have been involved but it was Dan’s project through and through. He was obsessed with it. As soon as he suspected who might be buried in the tomb, he was a man possessed.’

Despite herself, Ruth feels rather glad. She ought to be pleased that Guy wants to carry on Dan’s work but she finds herself feeling oddly possessive about the project – and about Dan.

She leans forward, addressing Susan over Kate’s angrily bobbing head. ‘Do you know if Dan saw the bones again after Guy delivered them to the lab?’

‘I can’t tell you that, I’m afraid. We were all waiting for the results to come back before going any further.’

‘Do you know which lab Dan used for the analysis?’

‘I’m afraid I don’t. I left all that to Dan. He was very experienced.’ But he’s also dead, thinks Ruth, and all his work has vanished. Along with the bones that might belong to King Arthur himself.

‘Did anyone take photographs of the excavation?’ she asks.

‘Dan took some on his phone. And I took some for the county records.’

‘Could I see them?’

‘Yes. I’ll get copies made.’ Susan Chow still sounds troubled. ‘I’ve heard that the police are investigating Dan’s death. Do you think that this could be connected?’

‘I don’t know,’ says Ruth, ‘but I’ve learnt to be a bit wary of coincidences.’