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The trip to Barton-under-Needwood proved to be frustrating and fruitless. Anna, Matt, Mitz and Robyn knocked on doors and spoke to everyone in the vicinity and beyond, but there’d been no sightings of Henry Gregson the day he’d been killed, or indeed at any time. It seemed Henry Gregson had never visited the village.

‘I’m done in,’ said Matt.

‘We’ll call it a day.’

‘Anyone fancy a pint before going home? I can’t face going back to nappies and mess.’ Matt looked hopefully at the others.

‘I’m in,’ said Anna. ‘I could do with a very large glass of wine.’

‘Guv, you joining us?’ Mitz asked.

‘Do you know, I’m going to skip it this once. I’ll buy you all a round next time. I want to take another look at Tessa’s place.’

Matt, Mitz and Anna headed off in the squad car. Robyn, who’d used her own car to get to Barton, stood outside Tessa’s house for a few minutes. Tributes had been placed on the pavement in front of it – teddy bears, flowers and cards. She stopped to read the messages from neighbours and acquaintances and strangers, who’d been deeply saddened by the loss of a young life and wanted to demonstrate their respect in some way.

Driving back into Yoxall, she wondered if it would be worth her while touting Henry Gregson’s photograph around the village before she called it a day. It was Sunday evening and many people were at home. What did she have to lose? Although Ella, Liam’s girlfriend, claimed she hadn’t seen him on the Tuesday he’d died, maybe one of her neighbours had.

She tried every house along the main street with frontages overlooking the main road, but drew a blank. Nobody had seen Henry or his red Kia. She trundled further along the main street, intending to try her luck in the open-all-hours shop, and halted by the churchyard. The door to the church was open. For a second she felt an urge to go inside and sit in the calm, away from all the frustration that threatened to drag her down. She traipsed up the path and into the cool interior, her footsteps echoing on the stone church floor.

A voice called, ‘Can I help you?’ and a corpulent shape sporting a cassock, a neatly trimmed beard and wire-framed spectacles wandered out of the shadows, a book under his arm.

‘How do you do? I’m Kevin,’ he said, a large hand extended. ‘The Rev Kev,’ he added and grinned, revealing a wide gap between his front teeth.

‘Robyn Carter. DI Robyn Carter.’

‘Oh, I see. And there was me hoping I’d found another lost sheep to join my happy flock, although you’ve missed evensong. I was just tidying up after it.’

‘I’m afraid not. I’m here on business. I’m trying to find anybody who saw this man in the area recently.’ She handed Kevin the photograph.

He studied it and lifted a finger, tapping the picture of Henry Gregson lightly.

‘I think he was here. Last Tuesday. His face rang a bell. I was sure I’d met him before. He was standing in the churchyard, looking lost. I asked him if there was anything the matter and he insisted he was fine. I got the impression he wanted to chat, so I hung about with him for a while, discussing this and that. Thought I might have encouraged him to come inside, but he didn’t. Kept glancing at his mobile. Said he had to meet somebody. That’s all I can tell you. For what it’s worth, I thought he looked troubled.’

‘Thank you, Kevin. That’s very helpful. I might need you to confirm all this at a later date, is that okay? You didn’t happen to see the person he intended meeting?’

‘No. I nipped back inside and he’d disappeared when I came back out.’

‘Have you been the vicar here for long?’ she asked.

‘Three years.’

‘You don’t happen to know Liam Carrington and Ella Fox? They have a little girl, Astra, who might have been christened here a year or two ago.’ She described the couple, mentioning Ella’s scar.

Rev Kev opened his arms wide. ‘I remember them now. They’re not regular churchgoers. In fact, I haven’t clapped eyes on them here since that day. However, I did christen the little girl. It was a strange ceremony because they didn’t have the usual entourage with them. Normally, everybody comes along to a christening but not in this case. There was only the child, the parents and a couple of godparents. That was all.’ He slapped his hand lightly against his forehead. ‘That’s where I’ve seen the man before. He was godfather to the little girl.’

Robyn offered him her card in case he could think of anything else and left him to lock up. Her hunch had paid off. Henry Gregson had been in Yoxall on February fourteenth. Was he there to visit Liam Carrington? Liam had denied seeing Henry that day. She sat in her car, trying to work out what would be the best course of action. She decided to visit Liam, Ella and Astra to ask again if they’d seen Henry that day. However, when she arrived at the house, it was in complete darkness. Robyn fired up the engine and headed back to her own home.