‘Ailsa,’ Ava said when the pathologist had finished giving instructions to her crew, ‘is there anything she could have done to stop the bleeding? You said the victim probably had hours rather than minutes.’

‘If she’d had her legs free, she could have pulled the plug chain with her toes and the bleeding would have stopped sooner, if she’d thought of that. The problem is that using her stomach muscles to sit up and fiddle with the taps and chain would have made her heart pump faster and the bleed rate would have increased. She would also have been scared, panicky, not made good decisions. It’s possible she thought her screams would be heard, or perhaps she was expecting a visitor who might have helped. Tripp, how was the flat secured when police first attended?’

‘Locked, but the chain wasn’t across. Didn’t require much effort to bash it open, ma’am. It’s an old door.’

‘Right, we’ll let you get on, Ailsa,’ Ava said. ‘Looks like we’ll be seeing you again in the morning. Could you have a preliminary assessment by 11 a.m.?’

‘Certainly,’ Ailsa said, stripping off her gloves and stepping forwards to press gentle fingers into Ava’s forehead around the lump. ‘What happened?’

‘Tripp,’ Ava said. ‘I want officers canvassing the neighbourhood tonight, not tomorrow. And I want every bit of information on Mrs Hawksmith we can get. Focus on next of kin. It looks like she lived here alone, but there must be someone who’ll want to be notified. I want a briefing ready for the squad by 1 p.m. tomorrow. You can go.’

Tripp disappeared out of the flat, looking happy to be away from Ailsa’s disapproving glare.

‘Are you going to answer me or should I guess?’

‘Slipped at Tantallon, bumped myself. No big deal. I’m still standing,’ Ava said, taking off her gloves and unzipping her overalls.

‘You’re limping more than standing. If you fell and bumped your head, how did you hurt your leg?’

‘The leg is actually hurting a bit.’

Ava tried a brief grin. Ailsa didn’t return it.

‘Let me see,’ Ailsa ordered. ‘Come on, in the bedroom.’

‘Ailsa, this is a crime scene, I can’t just …’

‘Bedroom, now,’ Ailsa snapped. ‘I’ve got better things to do than to argue with a stubborn girl who takes too many risks. Now move.’

Ava did as she was told, in part because Ailsa was an old friend of her mother’s and generational correctness was an involuntary response, but also because her leg really was hurting and having someone qualified take a look at it felt like a good call. It was clear from Ailsa’s sharp intake of breath that Ava’s self-diagnosis was right.

‘Is your tetanus shot up to date?’ Ailsa asked.

‘Ummm, should be. I’m sure I’d have been notified if it needed updating,’ Ava murmured.