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Immy,” he said enthusiastically. Closer to, Jude could see that his good looks were marred by nervous anxiety. He was a man under stress. And a lot of the stress seemed to be related to his daughter. He looked at her with something approaching fear, as though afraid she might crumble to dust at any moment.
    â€œIt was no problem. Virtually on my way back.”
    â€œAnyway, thank you…Jude—was that the name?”
    â€œThat’s right—Jude.”
    â€œWell, thank you for holding the fort. I’m back in time to get my daughter some supper. What do you fancy, Immy? What have we got in the house?”
    â€œThe usual boring rubbish.”
    â€œOh. Well, maybe I’d better take you down the Crown and Anchor, hadn’t I?”
    â€œMum said we should stop eating out all the time. We’ve got to economise.” It was said piously, but with an edge of humour. Imogen relished the idea of a meal out with her father.
    â€œAh,” Alec began soberly, “if Mum said that…” He was silent before continuing wickedly. “All the more reason to have supper at the Crown and Anchor.”
    Putting his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, he led her towards the car. As he did so, he looked closely at the jumper she was wearing under her puffa jacket. “Is that mine?” She nodded. “You cheeky cow.”
    Though she hadn’t yet seen Imogen with her mother, Jude felt pretty sure she knew which side the girl was taking in the divorce contest. The eyes with which she looked at her father were full of adoration.
    Â 
    â€œHello. Stephen?”
    â€œWho is this?”
    â€œIt’s your mother.”
    â€œOh, look, I’m sorry. I’m right in the middle of something. Can I call you back?”
    â€œYes. Yes, of course.”
    And that was that.

8
    â€œY OU SAID THEY were going to have supper at the Crown and Anchor. Maybe we should do the same?”
    Jude was amazed. The suggestion was a most unlikely one, considering who it came from. Carole was always reticent, even shy. The idea of her volunteering to manufacture an encounter with Alec Potton and his daughter was totally out of character.
    â€œI think that might look a bit obvious, don’t you? I mean, given that I’ve only just met him, and that I’m not Imogen’s favourite person.”
    â€œYes, I suppose it might.” But Carole was desperate to find out more about the circumstances of Walter Fleet’s death. A murder investigation was the only thing that promised to take her mind off the subject of Stephen’s marriage. “I’m just so intrigued by it all.”
    â€œMe too. Mind you, no doubt we’ll soon hear that the police have made an arrest and the case is solved.”
    â€œWell, we haven’t heard it yet, have we?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œOh, but there was something. On the news.” And Carole related what she had heard about the Horse Ripper’s activities near Horsham. “It’s such a horrible crime. Why do people do it, Jude?”
    â€œI don’t know. I’m quite interested in it, though.”
    â€œWhat a disgusting thing to be interested in.”
    â€œMaybe. But human behaviour fascinates me, what brings people to do the things they, and particularly the appalling things. I’ve been making a note of the dates for these local horse mutilations and collecting the newspaper cuttings. I must get the Fethering Observer —it’s sure to report this latest one.”
    â€œBut why are you doing it?”
    â€œI’m just getting data together, trying to see if any pattern emerges.”
    â€œWhat kind of pattern?”
    â€œI don’t know. Responses to the lunar cycle, international events…anything that might make sense of the senseless.”
    â€œBut horses…horses never do anyone any harm. Why on earth do these people do it?”
    â€œThere are as many theories as