'Said he hadn't seen her since their last run-in earlier this year. Denied he'd ever intended to plough up the meadow when I taxed him about it. Told me that was the last thing he'd be likely to do. Said he couldn't care less if Barbara had rounded up a dozen of her conservation friends and staged a sit-in for a month to stop him planting in it.' Shore's jaw tightened and Rafferty heard his teeth grinding together. 'The idea that she might do just that even seemed to amuse him. Told me to go and look round the meadow myself if I was that concerned, as he had better ways to spend his free time.'
Rafferty sat up straight and looked sharply at Shore. 'And did you?'
Shore shook his head. 'I looked over the fields from the road, and called her name, that's all, but there was no sign of her. I
