6
Caroline drove out to Barleythorpe, formerly a village in its own right, but having more recently become the de facto north-west conurbation of Oakham. As they approached Tom Medland’s parents’ house, Derek Arnold’s words rang in Caroline’s ears.
Maybe it would be best if it did turn out to be a suicide after all.
She couldn’t help but read between the lines — even if they didn’t exist. Was he suggesting that she should try to write Tom Medland’s death off as suicide, regardless of her suspicions to the contrary? Proving murder might well turn out to be difficult in itself, never mind identifying a killer. But what if her suspicions turned out to bear fruit? She couldn’t, in all conscience, bring herself to sweep anything under the carpet to save Arnold’s precious statistics and crime
