‘The fingernails on both hands show some damage, some broken tips. Each nail has been cleaned and the contents sent for testing to see if there’s DNA from any other person. There’s yellowing at the end of each right hand fingertip and between the right middle finger and index finger, indicting both that this young man was a heavy smoker and that he was right hand dominant. Obviously the state of the lungs will inform us better about that.’

Dr Lambert rested the man’s hand back down, muttering quietly to herself. Ava paused the footage, rewound it a couple of seconds, increased the volume and leaned in to catch what the pathologist was saying.

‘Damned cigarettes. Government licensed murder, that’s what it is.’

Ava smiled and sighed. Ailsa Lambert never minced her words. Tiny, fierce, brilliant and a poster girl for old-fashioned values, she epitomised professionalism and kindness.

‘There are no visible injuries or sign of disease on his back or his buttocks,’ Dr Lambert was saying. ‘His throat and neck are unharmed. No swelling, no abnormal movement. I’m going to clip the camera to my pocket and open the mouth now.’ She did as she’d said then pulled the light overhead to shine directly into the mouth. Opening the jaw, she ran her fingers around the inner cheeks, looked into the back of the throat, lifted and then compressed the tongue. ‘We’ve already taken dental impressions, which will remain on record for identity checks where necessary …’ She broke off. Ava sat forward in her chair. Dr Lambert unclipped the camera from her pocket and moved it closer to the mouth, then pulled down the lower lip. ‘This might help shortlist candidates to give us this young man’s name.’

In spiky script, the legend ‘60M+’ appeared on his internal lower lip. There was no doubt that it was a gang tattoo – few other people wanted to go through the pain of getting a tattoo inside their mouth. That might bring the case to a much swifter resolution. Gang violence often led to premature deaths. It remained a tragedy – there was still a family to be notified – but death in the line of criminal activity was a possibility foreseen on a daily basis by gang members.

Dr Lambert checked his eyes and nose, ran her hands through his hair, clipped a section and bagged it for further testing, then moved the camera again so it was directly over the scabbing. She must have pulled a ruler from her pocket as one suddenly appeared in the frame.