‘The body was fresh, guv, and the scene almost sterile. The forensic officer at the scene was one hundred per cent sure that it had been on the shoreline for less than twelve hours, and that she must have been put there shortly after her death.’

‘Interesting. I mean, I know she was snooping around looking for information this week, so we know that’s probably the case. It’s the last thing any of us needs right now and a new case will stretch us, with Mary’s case taking so much time. I’ll have to take everyone off non-urgent duties, but I know how much you all love that anyway.’ This got an appreciative laugh of support. A series of photos came up on one of the other whiteboards, arranged by DS Umshaw, who’d first received the notice from the initial responders about the body at Thirlmere. Kelly and the team, including Demi Cramer, took a few moments to study the images, and Kelly read a very basic preliminary report.

‘Found by a walker heading for the Helvellyn range. Noticed what he thought were large white rubbish bags on the beach of the reservoir, which turned out to be her pale skin.’ They stared at the board. The photos were a mixture of close-ups and scenic. The body was face-up and looked like a mannequin.

‘Forensics said the wounds looked like bite marks from an animal. There’s also deep bruising around her wrists.’

‘I don’t really need to confirm that this is a homicide investigation,’ Kelly said.

‘Kelly, can you see those stones?’ It was Demi who spoke. The team weren’t used to hearing their boss’s given name used so casually. They waited.

Demi and Kelly approached the board. Next to the body was an arrangement of stones. It hadn’t been noticed because people position stones all the time on walks in the Lake District. Cairns of them denote summits, and passers-by build made shift stoves and games out of them. There wasn’t a lakeside beach in the whole of the National Park that didn’t have evidence of children setting out stones to pass the time.

‘It’s a triangle,’ Kelly said.

‘It’s the same as the fire element on the animals found at Mary’s.’

‘But there’s no fire.’

‘Guv.’ It was Emma Hide, who Kelly had tasked with researching the symbols for the five elements: one of them being fire. ‘It’s upside down, the opposite of fire. That’s the symbol for water.’

Chapter 36