‘That is a very difficult matter.’

‘I appreciate that, but I am sure that, drawing on your vast experience, you can assist me and the jury.’

‘A little ego massaging,’ Anderson muttered to Morton. ‘I told you he would be fine.’

‘The ladies and gentleman of the jury may have watched television programmes and seen a pathologist come along, look at a body and state that the time of death was two minutes past eight. Why can’t you do that?’

‘I’m afraid that bears little resemblance to reality. At best one can only give an approximate estimate of the time of death depending on the body temperature, the ambient temperature, the state of rigor mortis and a number of other factors. All of these in turn can be affected by the conditions in which the body has been kept.’

‘Please, will you help us with your best estimate?’

‘After death the muscles of the body stiffen and enter a state called rigor mortis. This usually develops within three to six hours and is fully established within twelve. Normally it will last for two to three days. When I saw the body being removed from the bin, rigor was present in the facial muscles and developing in the limbs. This was at about five in the morning. I would put the time of death at round about midnight. The jury must understand that this is only an approximation.’

‘So if the body was found just after one in the morning, he was probably dead for about an hour by that time?’

‘That would be reasonable.’

‘You tell us that death was due primarily to exsanguination?’

‘It was a major cause, yes.’

‘But there are spots of blood leading towards the bin where the body was found.’

‘On death, blood is no longer pumped by the heart but it will leak from any damaged vessels. Even where there is significant blood loss, there may yet be sufficient to leak out in drops when, for example, a body is moved.’

‘But it does mean that somewhere there was deposited a massive quantity of this man’s blood?’

‘The scene of the killing would be heavily contaminated with his blood. Yes.’

‘And so would anyone who was involved in the killing or, for that matter, the disposal of the body?’

‘Possibly.’

‘Oh, not possibly – undoubtedly?’

‘Probably.’

‘Almost certainly, to the extent that it would take a minor miracle to avoid being bloodstained. Isn’t that right?’

‘I would expect anyone involved in the actual killing to be bloodstained.’

‘Heavily?’

‘Probably.’

‘Thank you, Professor Walker.’ Muirhead sat down.