'You went to see him when Mrs Longman hadn't come home that evening?'
Shore nodded, his olive skin flushing, and Rafferty guessed that the farmer had been less than deferential. 'What did he have to say?'
'Said he hadn't seen her since their last run-in earlier this year. Denied he'd ever intended to plough up the meadow when I taxed him about it. Told me that was the last thing he'd be likely to do. Said he couldn't care less if Barbara had rounded up a dozen of her conservation friends and staged a sit-in for a month to stop him planting in it.' Shore's jaw tightened, and Rafferty heard his teeth grinding together. 'The idea that she might do just that even seemed to amuse him. Told me to go and look round the meadow myself if I was that concerned, as he had better ways to spend his fr
