on a rainy Saturday morning in August 2010, Sally Challen left her house in Claygate, Surrey.

She had bought the house less than a year earlier, her first step away from a 31-year marriage.

That morning, she returned to house just around the corner, her former marital home.

Though she had told few people, Sally, 56, and her husband Richard, 61, were planning to reconcile.

They were about to begin clearing the family house so they could put it on the market.

The Challens’ home was valued at about £1m, and with this they intended to take an extended trip to Australia, a late-life adventure, before deciding where to live next.

But first Richard wanted bacon and eggs for breakfast, so Sally went out to buy some.

When she returned, she felt suspicious, as if Richard had got rid of her for a reason.

A qu ...