‘Let’s get started, shall we?’ John says to no-one is particular.

He walks to a small control panel built into the workbench at the side of the room, and presses a button. A green light appears, indicating that the microphone suspended from the ceiling is now recording.

John begins by stating the name of the victim, followed by the date and time of the post mortem. He then spends a few minutes walking around the body, verbally recording what he can see.

Once the preliminary observations are recorded, Trevor and John carefully remove Jay’s clothes and place them in clear, plastic bags, to which Trevor affixes a label. John then circles the gurney once more, making more notes about the naked body.

A spotlight in the ceiling just above the body reveals everything, everything about his life and everything about his death. Translucent scars from misadventures suffered years ago gleam in the light, divulging the climax to stories I’ll never know the start of. Dark hair covers the majority of his torso and legs, black against the paleness of his cold body.

I take a step back, realising that I am in Trevor’s way. He circles the body with a video camera whilst John carefully measures each and every abrasion present on the deceased’s body, all the while documenting his findings aloud.

Once John is happy that nothing has been missed on the exterior of the body, he begins the autopsy. I don’t consider myself squeamish, but the sights, sounds and smells experienced during the examination leave nothing to the imagination and I long to be outside, gulping in fresh air.

‘Well, I think we can safely say that cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head, inflicted by an instrument likely to be a hammer. The indents in the back of the cranium indicate such.’

He gives a nod my way and beckons us over to the top of the gurney for a clearer look at Jay’s head.

‘Now, I say indents in the back of the head because there are a number of them; five in total. I imagine one blow from behind took him to his knees and another took him to the floor. They are well centred blows which would suggest that the victim didn’t hear the attacker approach.’

John points to Jay’s face.

‘The third, fourth and fifth blows came when the victim was face down on the ground. The blows were delivered with such force that it cracked the skull and caused this damage,’ he says, indicating the swollen, likely broken nose and the chipped teeth visible behind the lips. ‘In my opinion, he would’ve been dead by the third blow.’

John points out a few more details and finishes with the body, leaving it to the mortuary assistants to clean and close up again. He takes off his gloves and walks into the office at the side of the room. Liam and I follow him, wiggling out of our suits as we go.