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number of bloodstains on the rocky ground.
    Whoever had attacked the as yet unidentified woman had killed her a little distance away then dragged her body to a spot where it was less likely to be seen by anyone passing along the nearby path. It was a feat requiring considerable strength, but his discoveries brought him no closer to solving the mystery of what had happened to the baby, or finding why the woman had been killed.
    Had it been a random killing, or one with a sexual motive, the
murderer would hardly have taken the baby off with him, unless perhaps it was felt its crying would attract someone to the scene. But would not a vicious murderer have killed the baby and left its body with that of its mother?
    Of course, there was a remote possibility that the body was not that of Kerensa, or that the baby had been carried away by some unknown creature….
    Amos rejected both these ideas. What was more certain was that this was not going to be an easy crime to solve. However, he was determined it would be solved, and the first step was to have the body identified.
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    Horace Morgan did not wait for the body to be brought down to Trelyn for identification. The two Coumbe boys had met a gardener from Trelyn Hall when they reached the hamlet on their way home and told him what they had found on the moor. The gardener immediately hurried away to the wooded slopes to pass on the news to the estate steward.
    Tom was returning to Amos after speaking to Sergeant Dreadon when he saw Horace Morgan toiling up the slope to Hawk’s Tor. Urging his reluctant pony to a faster pace up the steep slope, Tom caught up with him and found him fighting for breath but still doggedly pursuing a course towards the tor.
    Guessing the Coumbe brothers had been unable to keep silent about Billy’s gruesome discovery, Tom slowed his horse to match Morgan’s pace when he drew alongside him.
    â€˜You’ve heard a body’s been found up by Hawk’s Tor, Mr Morgan?’
    Morgan nodded without slowing his pace, not replying until the path levelled out slightly, enabling speech to come easier.
    â€˜Is it … Kerensa?’

    â€˜We can’t be certain. I am afraid she’s suffered very severe injuries, Mr Morgan. It will be necessary to identify her by her clothes, or any jewellery she might be wearing.’
    â€˜Albert … the baby … what of him?’
    â€˜He hadn’t been found when I left Superintendent Hawke but I’ll go ahead to find out what’s been happening while I’ve been away. I’d like to offer to take you behind me, but it’s as much as the pony can manage to carry me up this slope. I suggest you take it a little more slowly too. Sadly there’s nothing you can do for Mrs Morgan – if it is her – and when we find the baby he’ll need his father.’
    Kneeing his pony forward, Tom went on ahead to tell Amos that Morgan was on his way and in his understandably distraught state might prove difficult to reason with.
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    Amos and Tom left the shadow of the tor together to meet Morgan before he reached them and his first words were, ‘Where is she? Where’s Kerensa? Have you found Albert?’
    â€˜It’s not absolutely certain yet that it is Mrs Morgan,’ Amos replied, blocking the path of the desperate man, ‘and there is no sign of a baby … but please wait a moment and listen to me, Mr Morgan. I want to warn you that, whoever the woman is, she has suffered severe facial injuries. I would much rather you did not see her at all just yet, but she needs to be identified, even if only by her clothing.’
    â€˜What sort of injuries – and how did she come by them? Has she had a fall … and why isn’t Albert with her?’
    â€˜I can’t answer the last question and the cause of her death will not be fully known until an autopsy has been carried out, but it would be better if you stayed here while I find