Ted nodded to the assistant, who began removing the rest of the victim’s clothes with a large pair of scissors. Ted indicated that he was ready for the body to be put back down on the slab in preparation for evisceration. Kelly peered at Mary’s face and tried to marry the image with one she’d seen in one of the few in photo frames in the woman’s living room: a smiling woman, hugging one of her dogs, taken by an unknown acquaintance by a gate, at the foot of a fell. It was always difficult meeting the dead and imagining them alive, but she had to, so that Mary could live on long enough for her to piece together not only what had happened but why.

The sound of the saw made Kelly turn away and she fiddled with her phone. Glances towards Ted, and his blood covered apron, confirmed that the autopsy was now in full swing.

‘Just as I thought,’ said Ted.

‘What?’ Kelly asked.

‘She died from an air embolus.’

‘What’s that?’ she asked.

‘The stab wounds didn’t hit any major organs – as miracle would have it – however, they hit her liver, sending blood into her abdomen and many veins, too many to count, sending an air pocket to her heart: that’s what killed her.’

‘Caused by a knife going through her a few times,’ Kelly added.

‘Sorry, of course, you know I have to be specific, I didn’t mean to denigrate the manner of her passing.’

‘I know, Ted, don’t be sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like an admonishment, it’s just the technicality of it can override what it must have been like for her in those final few moments.’

They fell silent.

‘I reckon she fought before she was bound. Her desire to live was admirable.’

Kelly looked at the lacerations up the victim’s arms and she marvelled at how Mary Hales had fought for her life, facing a ten-inch kitchen knife and acrid smoke from the torture of her beloved pets, not to mention their howls.

Chapter 21

Neither Ted nor Kelly had any problem eating a late lunch after being surrounded by death all morning. Kelly had kept a close eye on Eden House. HQ approved her request for extra uniforms and they were sent straight to work interviewing as many residents of Braithwaite as possible. It took time and people were generally enjoying their leisure time on a Saturday in the Lakes. They didn’t mind being disturbed, however – a murder inquiry, unusual in most people’s lives, brought a certain extra willingness to take part and help.