The following morning, Maggie arrived at the station early. She made a strong black coffee and waited for Julie to arrive. Maggie knew little about Julie's private life, except that she still lived with her parents.

The moment Julie entered the office, Maggie pointed to a chair. "Julie, I need to speak to you." She saw the smile on her face vanish.

"What have I done?"

"Nothing. It's complicated, and I need your help?"

Julie paused. "Do you mind if I snatch a coffee?"

Maggie sighed with relief. "Go ahead."

Julie returned, holding a steaming cup of coffee. "Breakfast."

"I know this is out of the blue, but I need someone I can trust to stay with me for a few weeks."

Julie sipped her coffee. "Let me get this straight. You're asking me to stay with you. Can you tell me why?"

Maggie gave the condensed version of the upcoming civil court case.

"How can I help? Do you believe this Talbot guy wants to do you harm?"

"You'd better believe it. I doubt if he will start banging on my door or kick it in if he knows there are two of us in my flat. And to be honest, I don't want to be on my own until this is over."

"Your neighbours. What will they think about a black woman moving in with you?"

"Tell you the truth Julie, I don't fucking care. If anyone says a word, I'll tell them you're my lover. As far as you being from the Windies, I couldn't give a toss. When I was at school, my teacher at the time was a Nubian from Egypt, and she told the class this story.

"The first Englishmen from thousands of years ago had blue eyes, black skin, and curly dark hair. Over time, his pale skin developed because of our climate. Black is the original skin colour of this island we call Britain. Thus, we are all related and much closer than we want to believe or our culture teaches."

Julie glanced at Maggie. "Do you believe that?"

"Do you think the scientists are lying?"

"To be fair, I haven't a clue, but I'm glad you told me. When do you want me to move in?"

"If you could move in tonight, that would be great. Go home and chat with your mum and dad. If they're happy, pack a bag, and off we jolly well go skipping along the yellow brick road."

"This is completely irregular, and you're mad. Have you cleared it with the boss?"

"Not yet, but I will. It's not a problem. Don't take all day. This afternoon, we will be revisiting the vicar."

"Morning, Julie," said Rupert as he entered the outer office.

"I need a word, guv," said Maggie.

"Now would be a good time."

Maggie nodded for Julie to leave and closed the door. "Has Chief Inspector Parsons spoken about my situation?"

"Not in any detail. Why."

"I sent Julie home to pack some clothes and move in with me this evening."

"Joyce did mention a creep named Talbot might cause you some grief. If you want advice, keep your batons handy, and if you have to use them, don't kill the bastard."

Maggie smiled as she left him to fill his cup with coffee.

***

Maggie drove the unmarked police car at speed towards the village of Stonewall. Not taking her eyes off the road, she asked, "What are your thoughts on the vicar?"

Julie looked at Maggie and raised her eyebrows. "You have more experience than me, but isn't the last person to see the victim is the killer? We know the vicar wasn't there."

Maggie laughed. "Stupid concept. Of course, the last person to see the victim is the person we're most interested in. The problem is, in this instance, we don't have a clue who the last person was or if these women are dead or alive."

Julie stared out of the side window. "Are we there?"

"This is it, the only church in this area. Because of the poor attendance, the churches in the other villages closed. They sold some while the others became derelict and dangerous. Long time since I've been here. Ah, there it is, the carpark."

The house surrounded by old and new headstones gave off an uncanny force.

Julie pointed at the lichen-covered markers. "At least the neighbours are quiet."

"Not funny. Some have been here for over three hundred years."

"This place is a dump. It needs new windows and a paint job. No wonder the vicar prefers his wife's house."

The area was empty with no life, no bird song, nothing. Maggie and Julie stood at the outer door, searching for a bell push.

The main door opened. A thin woman with grey hair, wearing a man's suit, glared at them. "The vicar told me you were coming. Wait here." She closed the door.

"I'm glad it's not raining," said Julie.

Maggie wrapped her arms around her body. "I'm pleased it's not winter."

The vicar opened the door wide. "Sorry, you had to wait outside. My housekeeper is not as young as she once was and doesn't trust anyone. She thinks visitors will steal the silver. My office is upstairs. Please follow me. He climbed the stairs two at a time."

The two women followed, their eyes taking in the gloomy surroundings.

Please sit and make yourselves comfortable. Based on our chat, you want to check the dates of my travels against those when these women disappeared."

"Correct," said Maggie.

"I can save you time." Ian stood and strolled to a dark wood table in a corner. "Last night, I went through my diaries and marked the pages of interest. You will see the signature of the police sergeant and his added footnotes. Your records will give you the addresses of my accommodation."

Maggie stood and went to the table. "Thank you. Where do I start?"

"The diaries are in order from left to right."

Julie joined Maggie and ticked off the dates in her notebook.

"Silly question, vicar, but did any of your congregation ever join you on your trips away?" asked Julie.

With a hint of protest, Ian said, "What are you implying, officer?"

Maggie stopped what she was doing. "I don't believe she's implying anything, vicar. Would you please answer her question?"

"No, they did not, and I never discussed the matter with them. I know how this must appear and wish I could change what may or may not have happened to those women. When I first heard, I prayed for them. And joined the police every day in searching the area. I suppose I believed, for whatever reason, they chose to leave their husbands."

"Vicar," said Maggie. "Can I take these diaries away with me and photocopy the pages you have highlighted?"

"Of course, sergeant. You don't have to answer this question, but do you know what may have happened to these missing women?"

"I go where the evidence leads me. To date, there is no clear answer. It's as if they never existed. The difficulty with this is we know of their lives up to when they allegedly came to see you."

"The problem you have is I didn't contact them. How could I? Indeed, they must have known it was not me on the telephone asking them to visit."

"Good point, vicar, but I would hazard a guess if they received a call, they trusted the caller."

"So, the caller was local?"

"It's a possibility." Maggie checked the time. "Thank you for your cooperation, vicar. You don't have a bag I can put these diaries into?"

Ian opened the bottom drawer of his desk. "Loads of them." He removed a Tesco's plastic bag and handed it to Julie. "Tell me, am I a suspect?"

"Maggie shrugged. "You and everyone else until we have the evidence to say you're not. We need at least one good clue to continue investigating. Life's moved on. Husbands have remarried, and others are in new relationships. The force is dotting the I's and crossing the T's before closing the cases."

"Sergeant, when will I have my diaries back?"

"I'll have Julie return them in a couple of days."

Ian opened his office door and led as the three of them descended the stairs.

Maggie noticed a ground-floor door open an inch or two and close. She assumed it was the strange housekeeper.

As she drove, Maggie asked, "Did you spot the clue?"

"What clue?"

"They trusted the caller. Which means they knew who it was."