‘Anything,’ he said, standing back up. ‘Whatever jumps out at you.’

‘Fabian, if you’re expecting me to find something that points to it being either suicide or murder, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you.’ She looked at her watch. ‘And besides, time’s almost up.’

‘But surely there’s something here that gives you pause—’

‘I’m not blind,’ Stubbs broke in. ‘I see any number of things. But nothing that would help you launch a big investigation. Which is what this is about, isn’t it?’

‘Or not.’ Fabian walked up to her. ‘Let’s just for a few minutes entertain the notion that this wasn’t suicide.’

Stubbs sighed and checked her watch again. ‘Fine… But make it quick. We can start with the pictures of him you emailed over. As far as I can tell, he looked like he weighed well over 15 stone. Straight away, you have a problem. Just lifting him would have been difficult, not to say impossible. And then you have to string him up from the swag hook to boot. Add to that that he would likely put up a fair bit of resistance and fight for his life, unless he was unconscious. Speaking of which, was there an autopsy?’

Fabian nodded.

‘Any cranial damage indicating violence?’

‘No.’

‘And the toxicology report?’

‘Nothing out of the ordinary.’

‘So he was neither drugged nor knocked senseless. Come on, you can hear what it sounds like, can’t you?’

‘The only thing we know for sure is that he wasn’t drugged at the time of his death,’ Fabian said. ‘But that doesn’t necessarily mean he couldn’t have been drugged when he was winched up, only to be kept alive until he—’

‘Hold on, what do you mean, winched?’

‘Well, or hoisted up using some kind of pulley system, assuming we’re dealing with a lone perpetrator.’

Stubbs laughed and shook her head. ‘This is starting to sound like some kind of bloody science fiction fantasy.’

‘But certainly possible, right?’

‘I suppose everything’s possible these days. But that’s not the same as saying it’s likely.’

‘Granted, but how about this for a scenario. First he’s drugged and his arms are tied behind his back. Then he’s hoisted up. Maybe in some kind of harness, to make sure he doesn’t suffocate straight away. Then the killer could take his time with the noose while waiting for him to wake up.’

‘Right, and then what? Once he wakes up?’

‘Well, then he just lets him dangle there, potentially giving him water to drink until the tranquillizer has passed out of his system. Once it has, he cuts the ropes to the harness and leaves it to gravity.’

Stubbs shrugged. ‘It still sounds like a bad three a.m. film to me. But all right, I can play along. Sure, it’s possible. About as possible as winning the lottery.’