‘He was a wife-beater, or whatever the term is these days.’ Rebus started struggling into the overalls, Atwal helping. ‘Siobhan had the bit between her teeth.’

‘Which doesn’t really answer my question.’

Rebus looked at him. ‘Were you really expecting it to? Okay, how do I look?’ He zipped the suit up.

‘Just don’t bend down or breathe out.’

‘I could have you for body-shaming.’

‘Why do I get the feeling this is going to come back to bite me?’

They climbed to the next storey, Rebus stopping at the doorway of the murder flat. ‘Door’s not been forced,’ he commented.

‘It was open a few inches when the first responders got here.’

‘Did a neighbour call it in?’ He watched Atwal shrug. ‘How did he die?’

‘Stabbed, bled out.’

‘Somebody must have heard.’

‘These flats are mostly rentals, not all of them occupied. Good solid walls, too.’

Rebus had entered the flat, pausing halfway down the corridor.

‘Did you know him, John?’

‘If I did, you really shouldn’t have let me in.’

‘You’re telling me I’m better off not knowing?’

Rebus stood in the living room doorway. There wasn’t much to see. If Haggard had been lying on a carpet, it had since been removed for analysis. The bloodstain on the wooden floor beneath was dark and large, but nothing a sander and some varnish couldn’t do something with. Rebus’s attention, however, was on the wallpaper. It covered only one wall – abstract squiggles and spirals against a silver background – the others painted pale mauve. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

‘Has the weapon been found?’ he asked, not really interested in the answer.

‘Teams are out and about just now.’

‘Who’s leading the MIT?’

‘No idea.’

‘Could it be Siobhan?’

‘Is there any reason you’re asking me rather than her?’

‘You’re far more charming and approachable. Still traipsing down to Anfield for the occasional match?’

‘I need to be getting back to work, John.’

‘Hint taken. Thanks for the tour.’ Rebus peered into the other rooms: galley-style kitchen, bathroom, three bedrooms. ‘Bit excessive for one person, no?’

‘I had the same thought. Plus the fixtures and furnishings are a cut above. Only oddity is that wallpaper in the living room. I saw that you noticed it too. Pretty antiquated, I’d say.’

‘Anyone from the lettings agency been for a look?’

‘Not as far as I know.’

‘They will.’ Rebus winked and shook Atwal’s hand. ‘Thanks again,’ he said, turning to go.

But Atwal insisted on accompanying him to the ground floor, helping him remove his protective suit.

‘I really am leaving,’ Rebus assured him.

‘I trust you implicitly, John,’ Atwal answered, ‘but all the same …’

As they stepped outside, they saw that an argument was taking place at the cordon. Rebus offered Atwal another wink. ‘Told you,’ he said.