Taylor wouldn’t have recognized the corpse on the central slab. Rory’s head had been shaved, with a neat line where they’d sewn the scalp back up after opening the skull. His body had been covered by a thin blue sheet, which had then been arranged so that his paper-white arms were free, and his hands sealed inside clear plastic bags.

“I’m not going to be able to give you anything definitive, but I don’t think he killed himself.”

The screen was attached to a MacBook. Glenning turned it on, entered a password. What looked like an aerial shot of a landscape appeared, dry but for the occasional cobalt blue lake. For a second Taylor wondered where this was, then realized she was looking at flesh.

“This is his neck,” Glenning said. “The colors show bruising and rope burn.” She clicked through to another image, even more microscopic. “These are fibers. There’s been another material involved in the strangulation, not just the cable. That’s my belief. At some point his hands have been on the ground, with weight on them.” Now she clicked to what looked like a tray of jewels: microscopic traces of rock and dust, reds and yellows and blacks. Volcanic particles.

“Where was he? If I’m allowed to ask.”

“Certainly not around here. Why?”

“This is trachyte. It’s volcanic rock, rich in silica and quartz. It was dug into the skin of his palms.” She clicked through again: more of the shades Taylor was beginning to recognize as bruising.

“If you look at his lower back, significant pressure has been applied here. If he had been on the ground, facedown, then this could potentially indicate someone applying pressure with a knee while strangling him.”

Finally she led Taylor deeper into the room to where a vacuum-sealed bag sat on the side counter. It contained a portion of the cable noose. Glenning indicated with the top of her pencil.

“The knot is a running slip. Most hanging deaths involve a fixed type of knot. Ninety-five percent or so will be half hitches, overhand knots, granny knots. This is more in the style of a bowline, quite sophisticated. I’d say it was made by someone who has used knots professionally or knows a bit about them. You don’t have to tell me if the deceased falls into any of those categories, but I thought you might be interested.”

“Very.”