Ledford was in his sixties, bald but for wispy white hair around the sides, a pair of glasses perched on the edge of his pointed nose. He was crouched down by the curled up body of the young woman. The victim’s face was contorted in a hollow death stare. She was only partially clothed, in knickers and a tight-fitting strappy top. She wore nothing on her feet. Her skin was dirtied and blotchy and covered in scratches and scrapes. There was a large pool of red underneath the body. Dani noticed rings of reddened flesh around her wrists and ankles.

She clenched her teeth, trying her best to contain her reaction to the horrific sight, particularly given how she’d been less than impressed with Easton’s reaction just moments before. For her, it brought back a whole host of painful and very personal memories.

A crime scene photographer was standing over the corpse, looking at the small screen on his camera.

‘Ok, that’s me done,’ he said to Ledford. He nodded to Dani and Easton, then made his way out.

‘Jack, it’s good to see you,’ Dani said.

Ledford said nothing, didn’t even react to Dani’s voice, just carried on whatever he was doing. It was a frequent habit of his and one of his many oddities. Ledford was something of a hermit, someone who really was pretty damn useless at interacting with still breathing human beings. Dead people, on the other hand, he was quite excellent with.

After a few seconds Ledford straightened up and used the knuckle of one of his gloved fingers to push his glasses up his nose.

‘Ah, DI Stephens. You’re back.’

He didn’t sound particularly moved in any way by the fact.

‘First day,’ she said. ‘Not exactly how I’d planned this morning in my head.’

Dani looked over at Easton and wondered again whether he already knew the full story of her period of absence. Most likely he did. What he hadn’t read in the papers would have been passed through the police force on the gossip merry-go-round. Ledford didn’t say anything more on the subject of Dani’s return and that was fine by her.

‘What are your early thoughts?’ Dani asked.

‘Well I don’t think this was an accident,’ Ledford said. ‘Nor do I think the young lady did this to herself deliberately.’

Dani wasn’t sure if Ledford was trying to jest or if he actually felt it important to point those obvious facts out to her, such was his manner.

‘What about cause of death?’

‘You know you’ll have to wait for the post-mortem results before I can give you a full answer on that.’

‘Of course. But what’s your gut?’

‘Perhaps not the best choice of words, DI Stephens.’

Dani noticed Easton smirking, whether at her expense or because of Ledford’s stiff and humourless manner, she wasn’t sure.