for themselves. They stared at the masses of dark red blood spatters covering the walls and ceiling.
Claire stepped towards the bodies. She pointed to the ceiling.
‘Impact spatter is significant, along with the cast-off spatter. Every time the assailant swung the weapon back it flung blood onto the nearby surfaces. I think the victims were already lying down when they were attacked.’
Wendy came down the cellar steps. ‘I think so, too; the bloodstains are circular, which suggests a ninety-degree angle of impact.’
Standing behind Saul, she motioned swinging her arms backwards then forwards.
Claire bent down to look at the bodies then turned to Ben.
‘Do we know where the cloths are from which covered the faces? Did they match any of the towels or bedding in the rest of the house, cleaning cloths, that kind of thing?’
Wendy nodded. ‘I found some white rags in a bucket under the sink and think they may be a match. Forensics will tell us for definite.’
Ben spoke. ‘Whoever did this had intimate knowledge of the house if they knew where to find the cloths without disturbing anything.’
Abigail began to look around the shelving and boxes in the cellar. ‘The weapon hasn’t been located yet?’
‘No, once the bodies have been moved the search team are going to do a full sweep of the house and grounds.’
Claire snapped photos on her phone of the bodies in situ, and then the surroundings. ‘Please can you show me where the body was found yesterday? I’m happy for these two to be moved if you’re finished processing them.’
‘Yes, of course.’ He led them back upstairs and out into the garden, where a late September sun was shining.
Abigail sighed. ‘Such a beautiful house and gardens. On first impressions you’d think they had everything made. What a terrible ending for a lovely family.’
Claire shook her head. ‘Yes, tragic. However we can’t assume they were a lovely family. You know that, Abi. For all we know they were up to their necks in debt and beat their children. Until the financial checks and witness statements have been taken from friends and colleagues, we actually know nothing about them.’
Abi turned to Ben and shrugged. ‘Sorry, I know. It seems on the surface they were.’
Morgan was walking back up the drive.
Ben waved her over. ‘How did you get on?’
‘The house nearest was empty. I caught the cleaner from the house a little further along just before she left. She said that they do have CCTV, but she has no access to the system. The owners will be home after seven. She also said that the Potters were a lovely family. Olivia wasn’t working. She told her employer that she’d sold her hair and beauty business in Manchester for a nice profit so they could move down here. Saul had sold his construction company as well, so they were financially stable. Saul was in the process of starting another company, but there had been a few complications.’
Ben smiled. ‘Brilliant, I love it. You can always rely on hired help to have the low-down on everyone. I take it she didn’t see anything yesterday?’
She shook her head. ‘No, but she said she did notice Saul’s car parked in a lay-by yesterday afternoon. It’s near another house she cleans on Fell Road.’
‘Brilliant, I’ll get a patrol to check it out.’
He walked back to the car, asking for a control to check for Saul Potter’s car in the location they’d just been given. His head was pounding. He needed a drink, probably water, but he hated the stuff so it would be a large coffee with an extra shot and probably a large, gooey, sticky cake to go with it. Sitting inside, he watched as Morgan pointed to the tree where Olivia Potter had been found hanging and wondered if she really had killed her family before killing herself. They would find out soon enough; next stop after the nearest coffee shop was the mortuary.
Nineteen
Ben had left Claire and Abigail at the house. He parked on the double-yellow lines outside The Coffee Pot, a small café that brewed the best coffee this side of the Lake District. Morgan had gone in clutching the £10 note he’d passed to her. The hazards were flashing, and he didn’t care if a parking warden busted him; he was desperate and, judging by the look of exhaustion on Morgan’s face, so was she. She came out a few minutes later with two large, pale pink coffee cups and a paper bag. She got in and