When he gave a small laugh, in spite of himself, the pathologist went on, ‘You can see here that the back and underside of the artery has been damaged, while the upper and forward parts remain intact. The cause looks to be upward movement of the blade as it was pulled out. The rupture would have caused extensive bleeding, which would have resulted in death within fifteen or twenty minutes.’

Jonah asked quietly, ‘Any indication of whether it was removed by his attacker?’

Shaw gave a slight shrug. ‘It’s not clear, but if you’re asking whether he might have pulled it out himself, then yes, it’s entirely possible. I don’t know how that ties in with it being wiped, though, unless the killer deposited it there later.’

Jonah glanced at Lightman and nodded. They had both been part of investigations into knife attacks before; and both remembered a teenage boy who would probably have made it if he hadn’t pulled a blade out of his chest before going to get medical help.

It was all odd and dissatisfying. If Alex had removed it, he must have done it elsewhere or there would have been more blood. If the killer had deposited it next to him, there should have been footprints. Whichever way he looked at it, the series of events was muddy and unclear.

‘We could really do with some witnesses,’ he said to Lightman, once Shaw had finished with the other organs and taken blood samples. ‘I’m going to head over to that nightclub.’

Louise Reakes was allowed to go home at twelve fifteen, which felt to Hanson like at least six p.m. It looked like Louise’s involvement in this enquiry was done. A quick follow-up call to the Reakeses’ neighbours at number nine Saints Close had produced no suggestion of any rows or strange behaviour. Louise, they said, was generally free to do her own thing, and did so. They gave their opinion that the two would be fine if only Louise would stop drinking.

This filled Hanson with relief. The idea of having to delve into a case that involved an abusive partner had made her feel distinctly sick. It was too close to the past, and to the present, too. Too close to everything she was trying so hard not to think about.

On top of that, it felt like a dangerous topic for her own relationship. She was four months into dating Jason, and she’d never quite got round to telling him about Damian, the abusive partner she’d tried to leave behind in Birmingham.