‘Not if he planned to leave a severed head in the bathroom,’ Joel replied, squatting back down to take in the bagged mess in front of him. ‘Have you seen this?’ He was round the other side from DS Rose and pointing with his little finger.

‘The dead head? Yeah, I’ve seen it,’ she said but didn’t move any closer.

‘I didn’t have you down as the squeamish type, Lucy Rose,’ Joel said with a grin.

‘I just don’t like dead heads. They stink so much worse than the living ones I’ve met.’

‘Not always,’ Joel mused. ‘The back of the head, here …’

‘What about it?’

‘It’s missing.’ Joel brought his pen back out to shift the bag again. He tried to inspect the wound, but it wasn’t going to be possible through the bag.

‘Missing?’

‘A large chunk of the back of the skull, near the base. You know what that makes me think?’

‘That this is some sort of sick treasure hunt, and the back of the skull is in someone else’s shower tray?’ DS Rose’s voice was muffled now, her fingers shut when Joel had stoked up the smell.

‘That he was shot in the mouth,’ Joel said. ‘Does that sound familiar to you?’

‘It might to Danny Evans.’

Joel’s phone rang in his pocket and he stood up. The display showed a number he didn’t recognise. ‘DI Norris,’ he said, taking a few steps back from their grim discovery.

‘Oh … look, sorry to call you. It’s Sharon Evans … You said I could call if there was anything I thought might be important. About Danny … my husband?’

‘Mrs Evans, of course.’ Joel made eye contact with his colleague.

‘I was angry. I know we didn’t get off to the best start but you have to understand that the police … We haven’t had the best of times.’

‘I know that. It’s OK—’

‘I told you Danny wouldn’t kill himself,’ Sharon cut in.

‘You did.’

‘I got a phone call …’

‘Oh?’

‘It’s difficult to explain but it was someone threatening us. It might be nothing but he just said: one down. You know, like maybe Danny was the first and he was responsible. Maybe someone just heard what’s happened and they … This sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? I’ve had calls before, a month ago. The police said it was nothing then. It’ll be nothing now.’ Joel heard a tut like Sharon Evans was now scolding herself for even calling.

‘It doesn’t sound like nothing to me. I could do with talking to you again anyway. How about we meet up? Things are always easier face to face.’

‘Talk to me, what about?’

‘Some developments, Mrs Evans, some things you might be able to help us understand.’