It had been quite unbelievable, really, that the copper had lost his hat and that it had ended up under the same boathouse as the head he’d dumped there in the early hours. If they hadn’t found it, the next thing on his list had been for Megan to use the unregistered pay-as-you-go mobile they had bought to phone the police and tell them she’d found a head. But they had been saved the unnecessary risk of the call being traced, which had been greatly in their favour.

Henry knew it was too soon to even think about taking Annie. He wasn’t ready, but he would have to do something to keep Megan happy. He would look for another victim while she was at work tomorrow, maybe one of the girls she worked with. And then he swore at himself. That would mean the police would be crawling all over the coffee shop and Megan – far too risky. It could be one of the customers, though; there must be some regulars who fitted Megan’s profile. He got out of the van to go inside and ask her what she thought. He was excited at the thought of killing again. He hadn’t thought it would be as enjoyable with an audience, but it was even better, and now both of them were as guilty as each other. It wouldn’t matter if they got caught. They were both equal now in the eyes of the law – both cold-blooded murderers.

***

After what took almost three times as long as if Annie had taken charge they finally left the rugby club. At least she’d taught George something valuable today. He would be able to put his knowledge to good use and know exactly how to treat someone who was very vulnerable and also deal with a break-in – probably the two most common jobs the police dealt with. They went back to get something for a late lunch at the deli. Cathy would probably be frothing at the mouth. She’d been waiting so long for some food, but there was nothing stopping her going into town for something.

Annie bought savoury cheese baguettes, salt and vinegar crisps and Cherry Cokes all round – the healthy option. Starting tomorrow she would have to watch what she was eating. She’d lost loads of weight without trying before the wedding because of Amelia, who had been Will’s dad’s housekeeper. She had turned out to be Will’s half sister who nobody knew existed. She had kidnapped Will so she could get some of his wealthy dad’s cash. But the weight was slowly creeping back on. Her work combat trousers were a little tighter this week than they had been last. After today she would dig out her old diet books and start again. Probably if she just cut down on the wine and all the home-cooked meals, that would do the trick, but there was something so nice about sitting in their cottage next to the wood-burning stove with a large glass of wine and Will. It almost made her want to sigh with contentment.

She parked outside the station and climbed out of the van, grabbing the carrier bag of food in one hand and tucking her hat under her other arm. They went inside and Cathy’s voice boomed down the corridor. ‘I hope to Christ you have something for me to eat because I’m chewing my own bloody arm off in here.’

George looked mortified and Annie stifled a giggle. ‘Yes, boss, we have.’

‘Well, come on, don’t be shy. Throw it my way.’

Annie walked down the short corridor to the end office, which was the inspector’s.

‘Sorry, we’ve been busy. Any luck finding the body?’

‘What do you think? Your boy wonder is on the case down in Barrow, though to be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if she had been killed there and just her head brought up here and dumped.’

‘Why?’

‘Why not?’ Cathy took a huge bite of her baguette, dropping cheese and salad cream all down her top. She scooped it up on her finger and popped it into her mouth. ‘If whoever did it is sick enough to take her in the first place and cut off her head, I don’t think it really matters why the fuck he did. In his own sick, twisted mind there is a reason for it and there’s a good chance we won’t have a bloody clue what makes him tick – unless your Will catches him. He is quite good at that sort of thing. Mind you, so are you. In fact my money would probably be on you catching him, only there’s a good chance you’d kill him. No mercy with you, is there?’

Cathy winked and Annie smiled.

‘I’m not a violent person. What are you trying to say? I’ve only ever used violence when it was a life or death situation.’

‘I know, but there’s only you who ever gets into life or death situations in the whole county of Cumbria. Relax, I’m only winding you up, but that’s why you’re on strict orders not to go near this case with a barge pole. Your husband will have me strung up, hunted down and shot if so much as a hair on your head gets harmed.’

‘Well, that’s very nice of you both, but you do know I’m quite capable of looking after myself and making my own decisions. It really pisses me off when everyone else decides what I can or can’t do.’

‘See what I mean? Perfect example of why you’re hard as nails, with that take-no-shit attitude. I love it, kid. Don’t ever let anyone wear you down so much that you are afraid to answer back. Now go show George how to do something useful with those statements. What had they taken from the rugby club?’

‘A case of King’s lager, a box of cheese and onion crisps and the charity tin off the bar.’

‘Kids. No self-respecting burglar would be seen dead carrying a case of that lager. Did you check the playground behind to see if our would-be burglars had a party and left behind all the evidence?’

‘Yes we did and it was clean, but I’m going to ring the council to see if anyone had been in to tidy it up first thing this morning.’

‘You know your talents are truly wasted being a response officer. Why don’t you sit your detective’s exam or your sergeant’s?’

‘Honestly, I can’t be bothered. I just want to do my shift and go home to my boy wonder.’ She winked at Cathy who laughed and almost choked on the last bite of her baguette.

‘I have to say that I probably would myself if I was married to him. It must be nice waking up to someone who doesn’t make you groan with disgust first thing in the morning.’

Annie left her to go and eat her dinner, write up her stuff, and then hopefully it would be time to go home.

31 December 1930

Every light in the Beckett house was burning bright; each and every room had been searched thoroughly. Nothing was left undisturbed. As the guests began to arrive they were greeted by Lucy, who informed them they were dreadfully sorry but Master Joseph had gone missing and the party was now cancelled. The men had insisted on coming in to help with the search and the women went in search of Martha’s mother, Eleanor, to comfort her and help in any way that they could. When the police finally arrived it was just as a group of six men were about to begin searching the gardens. They gathered everyone inside to listen to what had happened exactly before Joe had disappeared.

The policeman who had looked a little bit like her father had taken Martha to one side and knelt down on the floor to speak to her, and she told him exactly what she had told everyone else. That she heard Joe crying down in the cellar and then he was gone. Everyone was told to stay where they were while the police went to search the cellar. There was a lot of muttering amongst the men about time being wasted but none of them wanted to disobey the officers, so they stayed where they were. They finally came back upstairs and agreed there was no sign of him.

‘The only place he could have fallen is down into that drainpipe. Was the iron cover across it when you went down there the first time to look for him, Mr Beckett?’

‘Yes, it was. It wasn’t quite on the hole but it was covering it. My son is nine years old and if he did fall into it he would be screaming blue murder for us to rescue him. There is no way if he did go down there that he would have been able to move the cover and then put it back across. It’s a two-man job; it is so heavy.’