Hamilton stared at him, with what might be the beginning of anger. His nerves had been frayed, Jane thought, as all their nerves had, and she suspected that underneath the bonhomie there could be sensitivity and a quick temper.

‘What the bloody hell do you suggest happened, in that case?’

‘Someone might have taken the body outside. The child was dead, in my judgement.’

‘And who would do a stupid, filthy trick like that?’

‘I don’t know. But it’s rather more probable than that the boy was alive, and that he got up and walked out into the snow.’

‘Not to me, it isn’t. Anyone would have to be a maniac to do it.’

‘A sleep-walker would do as well. Or someone with an obsession about not being under the same roof as a corpse – your chap Peter, maybe. How does a Swiss peasant’s mind work? I don’t know.’