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time.’
    â€˜Talking, or continuing the row?’
    â€˜Starr always shouts, but he sounded quiet. The kids were crying and I think he was trying to calm them.’
    â€˜Now, this is important, Mrs Goodwin. At what time did you grow aware that the Keanes had all left their house yesterday?’
    â€˜Oh, I can’t tell you that. They were there when I was eating my usual bowl of banana and cornflakes.’
    â€˜That was when?’ Connie demanded impatiently.
    â€˜Eight thirty. I washed the bowl and coffee-mug – that always brings it home that Den’s not here; just one of everything – and I went out at nine to spend the day with a friend who was also not keen on all the noise and fuss of the Open Day. I came home after supper with her.’ Her brow wrinkled. ‘I was surprised that the place next door was in darkness. That small bedroom at the front is the nursery. There’s a low light burning all night for the kids.’
    â€˜So the house looked empty?’
    â€˜Well, yes. I got used to it being dark for five months, but they’re back now. There should’ve been lights.’
    â€˜Was their car in the drive?’
    â€˜No . . . no, so she must have taken the kids to friends, mustn’t she?’ A moment later, ‘Oh, my God, she won’t know Flip’s been killed.’
    Connie got to her feet. ‘That’s why we’re trying to find her. Thanks for your help. I’d like details of the friend you were with on Saturday.’
    Sarah Goodwin stood, cake crumbs dropping from her lap to the carpet. ‘Whatever for?’
    â€˜We need to know where people were between ten and fourteen hundred . . . for elimination purposes.’
    â€˜Elimination from what?’
    â€˜Murder, Mrs Goodwin.’
    Tom drove back to his office digesting a significant fact Priest had revealed. He was now eager to check SIB records for the report on a case involving Philip Keane during a tour in Iraq two years ago. It might throw some light on the man’s murder. Had Frank Priest lied about Keane’s ability to cope with active service? Had the Corporal funked it in Afghanistan, putting his men in danger’s way? Would the company sergeant major defend him so solidly if that had been the case? It was essential to interview Keane’s platoon before some of them went to the UK or to a European destination for their well-deserved rehab leave.
    On a huge military base it was impossible for everyone to know everyone else, even those within the same regiment. For a small unit like 26 Section, whose headquarters were on a far boundary, the situation was worse. Because of their general unpopularity Redcaps tended to stay within their own ranks and territory. It was the best plan; a mistake to make close friends they might have to arrest and report to the Garrison Commander one day.
    It so happened that Tom had encountered Ben Steele, commander of B Company, the Royal Cumberland Rifles – the RCR as they were frequently called – on a complicated case of abduction and murder in the regiment. Promoted to captain now, Steele would be the best man to question about one of his NCO s who had been murdered in this curious manner. According to Frank Priest, Steele had been involved in the trouble in Iraq and with Starr’s bid to get her husband out of the Army before the Afghan deployment, so he would know Philip Keane well enough to provide some input.
    Approaching the water tank Tom saw two Redcaps dismantling the posts and crime scene tapes, so he pulled over and crossed to have a word with them. He was not surprised to learn that close examination had produced negative results. The area had been trampled and scattered with litter by hundreds who had enjoyed the performances throughout yesterday. The small platform had been more rewarding. The fingerprints there could be checked with those of people known to have been on it, which