Fiona sat down and pulled a pile towards her.

Martha pointed to the one on the top. ‘They’re all done to a standard formula, so they have the cause of death at the top under “Disease”. Then the doctor’s name, name of patient, age, when they died. We can cross-reference them to the list from the Tay Bridge Memorial.’

‘Okay, so what are we looking for, M?’

‘Anything that gives basic facts about the dead but nothing too gruesome, we’re hoping loads of school kids will be coming to the exhibition.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry about kids and gruesome. Jamie loves grisly detail, he asked me what the drowned bodies looked like!’

‘Okay, so more a matter of dignity.’

‘God, yes. Of course.’ Fiona looked upwards, eyes screwed tight in concentration. ‘So, let me think, the great-grandchildren of those who died are all middle-aged now?’

‘Yeah.’

‘We won’t be putting the names with the post-mortems on display though, will we?’

‘No, just relevant snippets from the causes of death. No names.’

* * *

An hour later, Fiona pointed to one of the post-mortems. ‘This one’s not too bad, gives details but not too much. Name’s John Mitchel. I’ve cross-referenced him, says he’s an engine driver.’

‘Wonder if he was the actual train’s driver. No way of knowing as we don’t have any records of the working crew’s names. Apparently lots of off-duty train personnel travelled free on Sundays, so he could have just been a passenger.’

‘The memorial list says his address was 18 Peddie Street, Dundee. That’s the other side of the Hawkhill.’

Fiona’s finger hovered over the page and pointed. ‘Here’s what it says. Death by drowning. Dr Anderson was the doctor. John Mitchel, aged thirty-six, died twenty-eight of December, 1879. Post-mortem fifth of January, 1880. It says he was washed ashore at Broughty Ferry beach and taken to Tay Bridge Station for examination. Presumed drowned in the River Tay. It says he was five foot nine inches, shoulder circumference forty-one inches, and then it goes on to describe the state of his heart, kidneys and so on. But it’s the lungs that are most important.’ She pointed at the paper. ‘Left lung over-inflated with fluid and congested. Right lung over-inflated and contains considerable quantities of serous fluid.’ She traced her finger down the page. ‘Then look here, torso bloated… consistent with methane gas produced and trapped inside body… considerable quantities of water and debris in stomach… changes related to decomposition delayed by the temperatures of the deep water of the River Tay.’

‘So the methane gas build-up while they were submerged eventually caused the bodies to rise to the surface. Then they’d have been washed ashore, many at Broughty Ferry,’ Martha said, nodding.