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A dark, malevolent memory stalks, arachnid-like, around the inside of his skull. He remembers rage. Despair. Remembers the cool, clear voice of his addiction. Drink, Wulf. Drink it down. Then do what you must.

He had come here to end a life.

He raises his hands to his hair and feels around for the source of the thudding pain. His fingers find a hot, sticky mess just below his crown. He'd fallen, hadn't he? Fallen or slipped. No, she'd hit him; that was it. She'd hit him across the head as he was kneeling at her side, taking her pulse, trying to breathe life back into her. But that wasn't right, was it? How could she have hit him when she was already on her back? He must have slipped in her blood. Slipped, or fainted, or.... He slumps into a sitting position, his back against the cupboard door. Looks down the length of himself. Hears the distant wail of sirens.

He readjusts himself. Reaches into the back pocket of his trousers. They've already taken his warrant card, but he still has half a dozen business cards tucked away between the layers of sticky plastic. There's a little blue pen tucked into the coin slot. Behind the clear window, a picture of himself, arms around the lot of them, of Sal and Gareth and Rhodri. Marla, too. They're all smiling.

He licks the nib of the pen. Rests the card upon his thigh.

Writes the words that will condemn him.

He lowers himself to the floor. Crawls through the blood and the broken glass. Rests his head upon her chest, the softness of her nightie oddly pleasant upon his cheek.

And this is how they find him. Police Constable Wulfric Hagman, laid out upon the floor of the broken-down old farmhouse, snuggled up with the body of his former lover: his spectacles sticking out of her neck like a flag.

He doesn't protest when they cuff him. Doesn't offer a word in his own defence.

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

RB:....you'll have to forgive me for cutting short Messrs Skinner and Baddiel, but we've just received news from Carlisle Crown Court where the jury has been deliberating in the murder trial of former community police officer, Wulfric Hagman. We're crossing live to our reporter Vicky Addison. Vicky, we have a verdict?

VA: We do, thank you, Ricky. And it's guilty. The jury has found Hagman guilty of murder after just four hours of deliberation. His Honour Judge Randall Rebanks has adjourned sentencing while reports are prepared by the probation services, but the man called a 'perfect gentleman' and 'gentle giant' by character witnesses is now facing a mandatory life sentence for the murder of his former lover.

RB: Extraordinary, Vic. This must be a huge relief to the family and friends of the victim. Can you remind our listeners about the circumstances of this brutal crime?

VA: This was a truly horrifying incident that shocked the quiet community in remote, rural Weardale. The court was told by Prosecutor Alyson Shipton that Hagman was guilty of a 'merciless and pre-meditated attack' on his former lover, Katrina Delaney—a physically disabled forty-year-old with whom Hagman had been briefly involved in an affair.

The court heard that Hagman had murder on his mind when he bore down on Pegswood Byre, the ramshackle farmhouse where the victim lived with her numerous children. The court heard that Hagman's victim had recently ended their relationship, and had begun dating a much younger man. The court heard that Hagman, a police officer with thirteen years of exemplary service, reacted badly to the break-up and conducted a campaign of stalking, intimidation and terror against the victim and her family. She in turn made accusations that Hagman had been taking indecent photographs of her children. His superiors at Cumbria Police implemented an immediate suspension. That campaign of retaliation ended in bloodshed in November of last year.

RB: The court heard that the mum—who had been a 'much-loved community arts worker' before mental health issues curtailed her career—was killed with a single stab wound to the neck....