Catherine May was convinced that her husband was putting on weight, despite his protests to the contrary. It was the way he struggled to do up the button on his trousers, grunting as he closed the clasp. That gave the game away. The joke about how his dinner jacket was shrinking every time he wore it had grown as thin as it had become predictable. After much nagging, Detective Chief Inspector Donald May had been persuaded to buy a new suit for the dinner at which he and Georgie Ellis were to be presented with awards for bravery. Their actions in the Holme Hill murders and their part in apprehending the perpetrators had not gone unnoticed by the highest authorities, despite some unorthodox policing at various points.

The obvious reason for May’s gradual ballooning was lack of exercise. Freddie was now...

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