As they got closer, the smell got worse. Imogen could see the fabric was writhing with movement as her eyes pulled into focus. The face was directed at the wall, away from them, so they had to get close and lean over the body in order to see who it was. DI Walsh shone his flashlight into the corner and Imogen leaned over the body, holding onto Matt’s arm for support. There was no way to know at first glance how the boy had died, but another piece of the puzzle had been solved. Russ Beacham was dead.

Imogen felt a twinge of dread as she thought about having to tell the mother that her son was gone. In the whole of her job, that was the worst possible part. And whenever she had broken the news to a parent, she’d felt her insides twist up and knot with grief for them. Saying sorry and offering condolences was utterly pointless. The best thing Imogen could do when they found a dead son or daughter was to find the killer and bring them to justice.

‘Are you OK?’ Matt said.

‘He’s just a kid. He shouldn’t be here.’

‘Let’s get the techs up here to examine the scene. I can’t see any obvious cause of death.’

‘This poses another problem. If Russ is here, dead, then he didn’t kill Caitlin at the very least. He’s been here a few days. Judging by all the activity, a week or more.’

‘We need to contact the station and tell them to keep hold of Blackwell.’

They left the room and walked back to the estate agent, who was standing exactly where they had left him, a tired grimace on his face.

‘Well?’

‘We found a body in one of the back rooms. This site needs to stay closed to the public for the foreseeable, which doesn’t look like it’s going to be an issue. We do need to call some crime scene technicians in, and some constables will come and mind the scene. I’m sure you don’t want to hang around for that.’

‘You can keep the keys for now. We have a spare set at the office.’ He thrust the keys at Imogen. ‘I will let the owner of the building know what’s been going on here.’

‘OK. Thank you for coming down here. You’ve been a great help. It’s important that we are able to control this information with the press, so if you could see your way to not telling anyone other than the owner that would also be great,’ Matt said.

The estate agent was backing away almost imperceptibly; he just wanted to get out of there.

‘Could you also send us over any details you know of the building, the owner’s contact details and anyone else involved in the sale? If you know of anyone else with access that could also be useful to us.’ Imogen handed him her card.

He snatched it and smiled nervously before stuffing it in his pocket.