In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, the members of the Devonian constabulary are depicted as well-meaning but rather out of their depth compared with Sherlock Holmes.

When, on Friday, police were forced to admit a 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of Ann Widdecombe’s murder had nothing to do with the crime, and had been released, some began to wonder if the modern force might be in the same vein.

That innocent individual released from custody is believed to be a tradesman and father of one who lives in nearby Newton Abbot, who declined to comment when reached on the telephone by the Daily Mail.

Yesterday, however, officers announced they believed they had finally caught their culprit, describing him as ‘a dangerous man’ after a 28-year-old white male was arrested in Rotherham.

The body of the 78-year-old former minister had been found at her retirement bungalow in the shadow of Hound Tor, a distinctive crag which was the inspiration for Conan Doyle’s gothic classic. She had named it Widdecombe’s Rest, and it sits in the sleepy hamlet of Haytor within Dartmoor National Park. But from the very start, many details have been shrouded in mystery.

It is believed she was killed around 12.30pm on Wednesday, shortly before she was due to appear on a Channel 5 TV programme. Her body wasn’t discovered until 24 hours later, lying in a pool of blood in her kitchen. That’s when the case took a strange turn, because Devon and Cornwall Police decided to keep the news to themselves for another 24 hours.

Thus it was that, after Ms Widdecombe’s death was announced early on Friday by her political party, Reform UK, there was no inkling amid the plaudits and obituaries, of any suggestion of foul play.

Even when her death was revealed as murder in mid-afternoon, with a virtual information vacuum from the boys in blue, the Widdecombe case inevitably provoked more speculation than hard facts.

Five days after Ann Widdecombe’s murder, no cause of death has been made public and it is not known whether the suspect was known to her

The former minister had named her retirement bungalow Widdecombe’s Rest, and it sits in the sleepy hamlet of Haytor within Dartmoor National Park

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, laying a wreath to Ms Widdecombe near the scene on Saturday, took it upon himself to offer his theories like a kind of amateur detective.

He described the killing as ‘premeditated’ and despite ongoing calls from police not to speculate, made a series of controversial comments.

He claimed a car arrived at her house minutes before the moment police believe she was murdered – details not confirmed by detectives.

Mr Farage said: ‘One theory doing the rounds is that it was a burglary gone wrong. But a car went onto the drive at approximately 12.25pm on Wednesday. If you were a burglar, would you literally drive your car onto someone’s drive? From what I can see of it, from what I make out, this was premeditated murder.

‘Whether it was politically motivated, whether it was someone with a grudge. I don’t think it pays at this time to speculate.’

A highly placed source told the Mail that Ms Widdecombe’s family ‘don’t want her death hijacked for political purposes’, adding that they ‘are very uneasy’ about Mr Farage being at the scene. That didn’t stop his Reform colleagues arriving in force yesterday to pay their own tributes, with Richard Tice, Lee Anderson, Zia Yusuf and Danny Kruger all wearing suits and ties in the uncomfortable 30C heat and laying wreaths.

When asked about Mr Farage’s observations, Mr Tice wisely wouldn’t be drawn and, instead, chose to focus on ‘Ann the legend, an absolute treasure’.

At the police press briefing in Exeter yesterday, details were few and far between, and no questions were taken.

So, five days after the murder, no cause of death has been made public and it is not known whether the suspect was known to Ms Widdecombe.

Yet a police cordon around the village, which seems mainly to be aimed at keeping the media out, was in place yesterday and likely to remain for several days.

Over the weekend, the police were reported to be seeking a driver who was said to be ‘behaving suspiciously’ near Ms Widdecombe’s home in the hours before her death. A manager of a garage in Haytor said he had alerted police after his colleague noticed ‘something out of the ordinary’ at about 9am on Wednesday – a dark VW Golf Mk4 parked in what he described as a ‘strange place’.

The car was reported to police shortly before Nigel Farage visited the scene of the murder. Was this the car the Reform leader himself claimed had been on Ms Widdecombe’s driveway?

Whatever the case, not all the residents were entirely happy with the conduct of the investigation. Villager Andrew Hill told the Daily Mail he tried to inform police about two shirtless workmen drinking cans of cider and lager in Haytor around the time Ms Widdecombe was murdered – including one from South Yorkshire – but felt his report was dismissed.

He said he saw them outside the Rock Inn at Haytor on what is believed to be Wednesday evening this week.

The 64-year-old recalled: ‘I said to them what a lovely spot it was. I said we even have local celebrities like Ann Widdecombe living around the corner and one of them replied ‘oh f*** her’.

‘I was a bit alarmed by that and later went to tell three police officers at a road block to have a five-minute chat with them. But I was told to just phone the information in. This pair were staying locally but working miles away in Taunton.

Officers announced they believed they had finally caught their culprit after a 28-year-old white male was arrested in Rotherham. Police remained at the suspect’s council house yesterday

Given that the sighting would have been after the murder, it seemed unlikely these men were linked, but the geographical coincidence was intriguing.

There’s no doubt the killing has been a convulsive shock for a hamlet where people were happy to leave their houses and cars unlocked, without fear. Now they can’t move without seeing police and their vehicles in a grim reminder of what occurred in their midst.

With little information forthcoming from detectives, the internet has been rife with speculation about whether the murder was political or not. One Reddit user simply asked: ‘Why do I feel like something about the Ann Widdecombe murder doesn’t add up?’ which opened the floodgates for others to speculate about who might have been involved without a shred of evidence.

And despite the police protestations that the killing did not appear to be politically motivated, the procession of Reform UK leading lights did nothing to quell that suspicion.

Not surprisingly, given the difficulty which has beset Mr Farage over a £5million gift which he initially claimed was to bankroll his own security, Ms Widdecombe’s death was an occasion for Reform to press home their point about the scale of threats.

Asked about Mr Farage’s claim that the attack was premeditated, Mr Tice said: ‘We have to let the police crack on with their job, and hopefully they can give us some information as soon as possible.

‘Initially you assume she’s had a terrible stroke, or whatever, and then the further news comes out. Separately, there are some very serious issues around the safety of MPs that need sorting out.’

A Haytor resident reflected on the quiet community which must now attempt to return to its peaceful existence once the police and media have departed.

‘There are a lot of very well-off middle-class people as well as celebrities around the Dartmoor area like Annie Lennox, Jennifer Saunders and Ade Edmondson.

‘There are much wealthier and bigger houses that burglars might want to target. So people are wondering whether this was an attack on Ann Widdecombe because she was an elderly woman living alone.’

Haytor may be remote, but surely it is not a community immune from crime?

Resident Carole Wykes-Dart said the police were hardly a common sight in the village, but she added: ‘There is a problem with rural crime. Farm vehicles like tractors and quad bikes get stolen as well as animals. And we are affected by county lines drug-dealing in these rural areas too.

‘But Ann never shut the gates to her driveway leading to her bungalow. And her garden and pool are overlooked from the lane.’

Sir Christian Sweeting, a businessman who was friends with Ms Widdecombe for more than 30 years, said he had urged her to get an electronic gate for extra security but was rebuffed.

The truth is that Ms Widdecombe fitted happily into village life and never wanted to seem aloof from it.

Mr Tice summed up his old friend and political ally best, when he said: ‘We have lost an absolute colossus. A legend in our lifetime. Ann Widdecombe was unique. She was adored by millions.

‘Ann is with her parents, her brother. She’s with her maker. Rest in Peace.’

Meanwhile, the nation awaits any clue as to what might have been behind her death.