‘It’s much better that you remain in ignorance,’ said his father. ‘In fact, your ignorance will save you, as I hope it will save your mother. There’s nothing so dangerous as knowledge, at a time like this.’
‘You’ve gone mad,’ Ant said weakly. ‘You’re talking gibberish.’
‘I can see it must seem that way. Well, so be it. Look – son, we’ve got to get through tomorrow as best we can. Nothing’s going to kick off until that’s over and done with. There’s every chance your mother’s going to come back in time to pull a few crackers with us. I’m not going to tell you everything’s going to be all right, because that would insult your intelligence. But you’ll be okay. In the long run, it might turn out to be just what you needed. It all depends on the despicable Carla.’
‘I know it sounds childish,’ said Ant, ‘but all I really want is for my mother to come back.’
Thea’s new friend was the man with the metal detector. Stephanie was in no doubt that these were the same slouching shoulders, the same long legs and grey jeans. Besides that, all doubt was removed when he carefully propped his strange device against the wall. ‘This is Detective Sergeant Graham,’ said Thea with a rueful smile. ‘We knew each other slightly, some time back, as it happens. But he’s not here as a policeman now. He’s been having a fun time metal detecting all round the village, on his days off.’
‘Gosh!’ said Jessica. ‘Fancy that.’ She stared at his face. ‘Stephanie spotted you, twice. Thought you were behaving suspiciously.’
‘I thought you’d got a gun, the first time. Why were you doing it in the dark?’ asked Stephanie.
‘I got carried away, that’s all,’ he said, speaking for the first time. ‘It’s hard to stop, once you get going.’
Thea interrupted to offer him tea and make proper introductions. ‘The big one is Jessica, my daughter, and the little one is Stephanie, my stepdaughter. Jessica’s in the Manchester police, soon to be promoted to CID. And that’s Hepzibah,’ she added, indicating the spaniel who was in her basket licking her paws.
‘And I’m Finch. Finch Graham – which I know is back to front. It should be the other way around. It causes all kinds of confusion.’
Jessica laughed. ‘It’s a nice name, all the same.’
Hearing an unfamiliar note in her stepsister’s voice, Stephanie gave her a sharp look. She was facing the man, looking right into his eyes, her skin a slightly pinker shade than usual, her back very straight. And the man was looking back at her with the same sort of expression. It was as if an invisible membrane had wrapped itself around them, keeping everybody else at a distance.
‘I want to know more about the metal detecting,’ she nagged. ‘How do you do it in the dark?’
‘Simple – I’ve got a head torch. So when the thing beeps, I’ve got enough light to see what I’m digging up.’ He was in his late twenties, with curly hair the colour of their kitchen table, a sort of dark ginger. ‘But here I am, still at it, and no sign of anything. I’d just decided to pack it in when your mother accosted me.’
‘No lovely Roman gold coins or amulets?’ teased Jessica.
‘Quite a lot of nails, maybe eighteenth century, a horseshoe and this.’ He pulled a piece of square-shaped metal from his pocket. ‘I think it’s a shoe buckle, but it’s very broken.’
‘Well, that’s better than nothing,’ said Jessica kindly. ‘Are you stopping for a mince pie?’
‘You’re not out searching for Beverley Frowse, then?’ asked Thea incautiously.
Sergeant Graham was patently confused. ‘Who?’
‘Oh – I forgot. The police still don’t know she’s missing. Well, I’ve said it now. No need to phone Gladwin about it after all. You can tell her.’
Graham’s confusion deepened. ‘Er …’ he said.
‘You’ll probably know there’s been a body found on the Crossfield Estate,’ said Jessica. ‘Well, there’s also a woman gone missing. She lives in the tied cottage there. Thea’s friendly with the people in the cottage, and they told her about Beverley. They hadn’t said anything to the police, last we heard, which makes it a bit awkward.’
The man took a slow breath. ‘This is the first I’ve heard about any of it. I’m off duty, have been since Friday. Doesn’t some multi-millionaire own that place? Got a helipad and security fences.’
‘That’s the one. And he’s dead. They found him this morning. There’s been trouble between him and his tenants for years now. Harassment and intimidation all the time. It’s a wonder nobody’s called the police before now.’
‘And somebody’s missing as well as him being dead? You’ll be telling me next it was murder.’ He paused. ‘Although if that was so, they’d have called us all in. So it’s natural causes, right?’
‘Undecided, apparently. All down to the post-mortem, which won’t be till Wednesday, most likely.’
‘Christmas,’ said Graham with a nod. ‘Sounds pretty complicated, all the same. And you say you’ve been withholding information? What’s DS Gladwin going to think about that?’
‘She’ll be grateful to me for not lumbering her with any more worries,’ said Thea defensively.
‘Maybe. But …’ He scratched his head. ‘You’ve told me now. I should probably get onto her. Can we sit down, and you can go over it again.’
With a sigh, Thea did as asked. She rattled through the story while Stephanie and Jessica listened and added one or two extra points. Stephanie could tell that Thea was trying to make it sound as unsuspicious as she could. She said nothing about the phone call that Ant had told them about, where Beverley had referred to someone being dead. Jessica, more surprisingly, didn’t mention it either.
‘Okay – so we’ve got a grown woman, probably not just sick of peeling sprouts in spite of what you’re trying to make me think, gone off on her own,
