“So when did you discover the damage?”

“This morning, when I called you lot,” replied the red-faced farmer.

“And when did you last check the field?”

“Couple of days ago. Before all the folk turned up for the solstice.”

“So this,” she indicated with her arm towards the laid wheat crop, “could have been done anytime over the past few days.”

“Aye. But it’s still ruined my crop.”

Keya and Warren left Farmer Minchin and his damaged wheat crop and drove back to the police station.

“How do we solve this crime?” asked Warren from the passenger seat as he looked through the photographs he’d taken of the crop circle.

“With luck, I suspect,” sighed Keya. “But the culprit will be forced to stop once the fields are harvested. Someone might spot whoever is creating the designs, but by their very nature, most fields are remote and if the work is done at night, or early in the morning, the likelihood of the creator being seen is low.”

Keya slowed to a stop and looked left and right before driving straight over the crossroads. “Vandalism in the countryside has been a concern for years now, but as I’m the only officer officially overseeing the area, there isn’t much I can do unless the culprits are caught in the act.”

Deciding to change the subject, Keya asked, “Did you find anything useful in the rubbish we brought back from the standing stones yesterday?”

“Inspector Evans suggested I speak to Sujin about it, and he told me he’d set up a sorting area this morning, so I guess I’ll get on with it when I return to the station.” Warren didn’t sound thrilled by the prospect.

When they arrived at the police station, Keya accompanied Warren to Sujin’s workroom. She knocked on his closed door, noticing the sound of opera singing coming from inside the workroom.

“Come in,” Sujin called, and he turned the volume down as Keya entered. Warren hovered in the doorway.

Noticing him, Sujin announced, “I’ve set up a table for you. Wear the protective gloves I’ve left, as we don’t want you cutting or stabbing yourself.”

“What am I looking for?” asked Warren uncertainly.

“Anything obvious, like a weapon. Put syringes or needles to one side, and any cigarette butts in a pile. Place drinks containers and cups in the blue plastic bin and food containers in the green one. And put to one side anything that you don’t think should be there.” Sujin smiled at Warren as if he was about to embark on an exciting task.

Warren nodded and moved away from the workroom.

“Now I can say a proper good morning. How are you?” Sujin asked Keya.

“Confounded by mystic crop circles and young women dropping dead for no apparent reason.”

Sujin looked away, but not before Keya noticed the disappointment on his face.

“But I enjoyed last night. It was so relaxing sitting by the river, and the food was lovely too.” She wondered if she should have added, and so was the company, but she suddenly felt awkward and self-conscious.

Sujin looked up and smiled softly at her before suggesting, “Perhaps we can do it again. Soon.”

Keya nodded. “I’d like that.” Then she spotted the phone lying on Sujin’s worktable with Daisy’s phone case next to it. Back to business.

“Have you managed to access Daisy’s phone?” she asked.

Sujin gave her a lingering look before taking a deep breath and turning back to his worktable. “Yes. I charged it overnight and unlocked it earlier this morning. I emailed you and your team a list of phone calls and messages, but I know you also like paper copies.” He handed Keya some stapled sheets of paper.

“Did anything jump out at you?” Keya asked.

Sujin considered the question before replying. “People always wanted something from her. For her to do this or that, but very few messages were from those who were helping or doing something for Daisy. Apart from Theo. He’d send little messages or memes of love, and he was the only one who ever asked how she was feeling.”

“You don’t think he killed her, do you?” Keya said.

“Not from what I’ve seen, but her phone is only one piece of evidence. And I haven’t actually met him in person.”

Keya was about to leave when she remembered the photos she’d transferred from Gilly’s phone.

“Oh! I have the photos Gilly Wimsey took before I arrived yesterday morning. Can I transfer them to you?”

Once the task was complete, Sujin uploaded the photos and displayed them on his computer monitor.

Keya leaned closer as she examined them.

“That’s Aurora and Viv. And the two sisters with the baby, and the ladies from Durham. Um.” On several photographs of the standing stones and the area around where Daisy’s body had been discovered, there was a young man loitering. He was wearing all black, apart from a pale green T-shirt, and had a shaven head.

She pointed at one image of the young man and said, “I met him in Daisy’s bakery, although I’ve now forgotten his name.”

“Could it be Ash?” Sujin suggested.

As Keya turned to him, she realised how close they were. Staring into his eyes, she asked, her voice catching in her throat, “Why?”

Sujin smiled and then looked down at Daisy’s phone. “Because there were lots of messages from him. I think he works for the bakery or the mill as there were messages asking about collection, deliveries, and supplies, but there were also personal ones. The most recent were quite desperate, even threatening, demanding to know what Daisy saw in Theo, and telling her Theo was too old for her.”

“Do you think there’s some history there?”

“I do,” Sujin confirmed.

Keya returned to the team room, passing Warren, who was standing beside a white plastic table now covered in an assortment of rubbish. He picked up a drink can and dropped it into a blue plastic bin next to the table.

She smiled as she entered the team room, pleased she no longer had to perform such tasks.

“Something amusing?” asked Inspector Evans in a flat voice.

“Not really,” Keya replied, composing her expression. “And certainly not in Farmer Minchin’s field.”

“It’s quite spectacular, though,” said Ryan, looking up from his computer.

“What is?” asked Keya, turning towards him.

“His crop circle. Someone photographed it from a drone. Come and have a look. It’s star shaped with points and little circular balls, as well as the expected concentric circles.”

Keya squeezed between Ryan and Sujin’s old desk and peered at Ryan’s screen. “Wow, that must have taken ages. How did someone manage to create all that in one night? And if they didn’t do it last night, how did they do it without being spotted by people attending the solstice?”

“But that’s the point. What if the spirits created it in memory of Daisy?” Ryan looked at her, his eyes wide but with a twinkle in them.