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Robyn’s desk was in disarray as she tapped her teeth with her pen, deep in thought about Lauren and Henry Gregson. Having spoken to Lauren that morning, she was feeling less inclined to believe she could possibly be behind her husband’s murder. All she knew for definite was that Henry Gregson had been shot in cold blood, possibly because he was about to reveal a secret. What if the secret was about him fathering a child with another woman? What if Lauren had found out he’d done so? Would that tip her over the edge? Could Henry be the father of Tessa’s baby? She’d know soon enough. Her gut feeling that Lauren was innocent tussled with her detective brain that told her she should wait for evidence to support her hunch and not jump to conclusions.

She rubbed the back of her neck. The tension was rising into her skull. She tidied the notes before jotting down three questions:

What time did Gregson leave home?

What time did he text his wife to say he was at work?

What time did he die?

According to Lauren, her husband had departed at about 9.30 a.m. and texted her at just before 10 a.m. to say he’d arrived at work. Robyn’s shoulders drooped as she admitted the futility of these questions. Wherever Henry was when he texted his wife, he wasn’t at MiniMarkt. Then, almost instantaneously, realisation struck, and she slapped the desk with the palm of her hand. Of course! This sloppy policing wasn’t like her at all. She should have jumped on this before.

‘Anna, get hold of Henry Gregson’s phone provider and ask them to triangulate a location for him at the time he rang that pay-as-you-go phone. There’ll be an emergency number to call.’

‘No problem.’

Matt, whose forehead was shining damply, interrupted any further ruminations. Back from his interviews, he crashed into the office, bent forwards to catch his breath, hands on hips.

‘Couldn’t get a space in the car park… Raining… so jogged from car… Bad idea,’ he said, in between breaths.

‘You should give up the biscuits and sugar,’ said Anna, glancing across at the commotion.

‘It’s not that. Ever since Poppy arrived, I’ve had to cut back on my training. Missus insists I do my fair share of parental duties. There’s simply not enough time to fit in trips to the gym any more. I hadn’t realised I’d got so out of condition. Geez. I need to watch it or I’ll end up like Anthony Hawkins.’

Robyn digested his words and wondered if Anthony had known that he had any heart disease or health problems.

‘Did Anthony have any medication at his house, Matt?’

‘Only a box of paracetamol and some cough mixture.’

‘Find out anything else interesting about his sudden windfall?’

‘He bought the car outright with a banker’s draft and had been looking to buy a new house. He’d got a couple of brochures for some very expensive places near Hoar Cross circa £600,000 each.’

‘How much money did he have?’ Robyn asked.

Mitz called across. ‘The bank details you requested for Anthony Hawkins have arrived.’

She crossed the room and read Mitz’s screen. A hundred thousand pounds had been deposited into his account at the beginning of February from a unit trust bond. The familiar tingling, a sign she was getting close to uncovering something of importance, began in Robyn’s scalp. She marched to the window and stared outside to gather her thoughts once more.

‘Okay, folks, time to gather round.’ She waited until they were all in position, recapped on all their findings to date and brought them up to speed with regard to Tessa’s friend, Justin. ‘Anna, did his alibi check out?’

‘It does. I spoke to his neighbour and the people he contacted via Skype. He was captured on CCTV footage on the high street at the times he specified, and his car was captured passing through two ANPR points at eight forty and eight fifty-five which was when he told us he did the school run. He wasn’t in Barton-under-Needwood. Unless he hired somebody to murder her, he isn’t our killer.’

‘Another dead end. We’re running into a few of those. The Henry Gregson investigation appears to be stalling too. We still haven’t found our jogger spotted on the Chase, have we?’

‘We’ve tried every avenue on that score. We’ll have to go public and appeal for help.’ David looked as fed up as Robyn felt.

‘I’ll talk to DCI Flint about that then. Okay, let’s look at Tessa Hall and Anthony Hawkins. Harry’s confirmed Anthony died of natural causes, so we’re not dealing with his murder, but we’ve established a significant connection between him and Tessa Hall.’ Robyn paced in front of the whiteboard that had been scrubbed clean.

‘We know they had a relationship, played on the same quiz team and, more importantly, both mysteriously came into money. How have they got this money? Were they killed because of it? Or is there another reason? I think the money is relevant. It might even be the key to Tessa’s murder.’

Mitz, tilting back on his chair, raised a point. ‘Tessa could have given Anthony the money.’

‘Why would she do that?’ Anna asked. ‘That’s a ridiculous amount to give somebody you hardly know.’

‘Because she really cared about him?’ David said. ‘She slept with him. Maybe it was more than a one-night stand.’

Mitz spoke up again. ‘Or to buy his silence. He might have known about the baby and tried to blackmail her.’

Robyn agreed all scenarios were feasible. ‘We have to keep digging. Talk again to those people who knew them both. Find out if they had any idea where the money came from. What did her parents say about the offshore account, Mitz?’

‘They were openly shocked. Her mother broke down and burst into tears. Neither had a clue about Tessa’s overseas fund.’

‘Have you found out who set it up for her? You have to have an official financial advisor for such accounts. It’s not like going to a bank and opening an account.’

Mitz shook his head. ‘I’m on it. No news yet.’

‘I want to talk to Roger Jenkinson now. What have you found out about him?’

Mitz spoke again. ‘Got his contact details. Rang him earlier but he didn’t pick up. Tried his ex-wife, who said he used to spend weekends out walking in the Peak District or similar. He would sometimes overnight there. That would explain why his phone is ringing out.’

‘In February?’

‘I said that too. She said he’s an outdoors type and heavily into survival skills. He’s a market trader. Sells home-grown produce at local markets. Hates being indoors.’

‘David, find out the name of Roger’s girlfriend and talk to her about him. Juliet Fallows might know who she is. If not, try Liam Carrington. He might be able to help.’

‘Got Tessa Hall’s phone record here,’ said David. ‘I looked specifically at those calls made since December last year. There are numerous ones to her parents, and after the end of December to this number, which belongs to Justin Forrest, Tessa’s journalist friend. She rang him almost every two or three days. The last call was on Monday the thirteenth of February, three days before she was killed. There’s not a lot that stands out, and I’ve still got to identify some of the numbers, but these three were all rung on the same day – thirtieth December, one after the other, from 11 p.m. onwards.’ He pointed at the highlighted phone numbers. ‘They belong to Anthony Hawkins, Juliet Fallows and Roger Jenkinson.’

‘That’s curious. I wonder why she rang them all that day and at that time of night. They’d stopped quizzing by then.’

The ping of an email alert sent Anna scurrying back to her desk, where she checked her computer screen. ‘Just received the information from Henry Gregson’s phone provider. They’ve used triangulation to pinpoint where he was when he phoned the pay-as-you-go phone that morning and texted his wife. He was on the main road, somewhere near Barton-under-Needwood.’

‘Where Tessa Hall lived,’ said Matt. ‘Reckon he was visiting her?’

‘We’ll show his photograph around the village and ask about to see if he or his car was spotted.’ Robyn looked thoughtful. If the DNA test proved he was the father of Tessa’s baby, they’d have made a breakthrough.

Robyn glanced at the faces of her eager officers and hoped this time they had, then thought about Lauren Gregson’s pale, haunted expression, and hoped for her sake they hadn’t.