‘Are you going to let us see him?’ she said. ‘Or are you going to stand here all day trying – and failing – to impress my partner?’

‘How do you know I’ll fail?’ Raj asked.

‘Because I know Ade has taste.’

‘Ouch.’ Raj put a hand on his chest. ‘Straight to the heart, Rachel. Come on, then. He’s over here.’

He held the tape up while the two women slipped under it, before leading them across the shingle to the body.

‘Won’t know exact time of death until after I’ve done the PM,’ Raj said. ‘But if you wanted me to guess, I’d say he’s been dead at least eight hours.’

The victim was lying on his back. When Rachel saw his face, she realised why Raj had asked Ade if she’d seen a dead body before. Because it was different when you recognised the victim. Your initial reaction was stronger. There was a feeling that the person you were looking at couldn’t really be dead.

Nick Gilbert was a restaurateur turned celebrity chef whose career had gone from strength to strength after surviving a notorious plane crash five years ago. His face was familiar from any number of TV shows, celebrity profiles in newspapers and magazines, and the several cookbooks that came out each year with his name and face on the cover. The blue-grey eyes, the dimple in the centre of his chin, and the distinctive scar from the injuries he’d sustained in the crash.

‘Is that what killed him?’ Ade asked, crouching down and pointing to the blood beneath the victim’s head.

‘Possibly,’ Raj said, ‘although…’

‘I know,’ Ade interrupted, ‘you won’t be able to tell us for sure until after you’ve done the PM. Looks like someone pushed him.’

‘How do you work that out?’ Rachel said.

‘Because people don’t fall backwards,’ Ade said. ‘If you trip, you fall forward not back.’

‘He could easily have stumbled backwards,’ Raj said. ‘It does happen, you know. Although I don’t think that’s what happened here. If I was to put money on it, I’d say someone killed him.’

‘Why?’ Rachel asked.

‘I won’t be able to see the full extent of the injury while he’s in situ,’ Raj said. ‘But from what I can see it looks too severe to have been caused by a simple fall. I think someone smashed in the back of his head, possibly using one of the stones here on the beach.’

‘Why’s he lying on his back, then?’ Rachel asked.

‘My guess is whoever did this to him rolled him over when they’d finished,’ Raj said.

Still crouched over the body, Ade looked up at Rachel. ‘If it’s murder, this is going to be a huge story, isn’t it?’

‘I’m afraid so,’ Rachel said.

‘My mum’s going to be gutted,’ Ade said, standing back up. ‘She loved this guy.’