A three-seater sofa, two armchairs and a TV filled the small room. Marks left by the SOCOs told a tale of fingerprint dusting, but Rhona doubted, as they must have, whether this room had been visited recently at all.

Closing the door behind her, she now chose to walk the narrow passageway to its end, passing a neat bathroom on the way, together with an access point for the loft by way of a narrow set of steps.

The end door led into a bedroom, just big enough to hold a double bed, a wardrobe and a small dressing table, housing some toiletries. The saddest thing about the room was the bed. The duvet had been pulled back, exposing an indented pillow where someone had lain. On the other side, a pair of pyjamas stuffed with clothes had been placed to face the sleeper.

The poignant image told the tale of a marriage cruelly ended by death. It also painted a picture of Karen’s current state of mind.

Rhona stood for a moment, taking in the scene, then turned and headed for the scullery which had prompted Magnus to call 999.

Entering the kitchen, her first view was of two high-backed armchairs, sitting on either side of the source of the heat, an old-fashioned range. The room was cosy and obviously the most lived in in the cottage.

Rhona imagined Karen and her husband sitting there companionably on either side of the range. Just as in the bedroom, Jack’s absence had been replaced by his clothes, arranged as though he still sat in his chair. Apart from this oddity, nothing else looked out of place. Rhona checked the evidence list again, to find that a tea mug had been removed from the range next to Karen’s chair. Plus her mobile from the table.

If there had been an intruder it didn’t look as though they’d been in here.

Rhona now stepped into the scullery to view what had caused Magnus to call the emergency services.

Depending on the injury and its location, blood left the body in a variety of ways: flowing, dripping, spraying, spurting, gushing or simply oozing. Minor injuries could produce more blood than you might expect. Head wounds, for example, or slicing your finger with a sharp knife whilst cooking.

According to the forensic list DS Jones had given her, the knife found in the sink had been removed for further examination. It was the blood pattern on the surrounding surfaces, plus the faint bloodied footprint on the floor, that now interested Rhona.

Her initial reading suggested that Karen, presuming it was her blood, had been cut at the sink and, turning quickly, perhaps in shock or looking for something to stem the flow, had caused both the splattering and the drops to the floor, resulting in the footprint.

But if she had simply cut her hand, why was there no evidence of her stemming the blood in the form of a cloth or paper towel?

The bloody footprint faced the back door and not towards the kitchen, which suggested whatever had happened had sent Karen out of the cottage.