‘That would be my guess. We’ll have to wait on the tox screen, but from the cirrhosis of his liver, I would guess alcohol abuse. There are no signs of injection marks, and hep B and C are negative, so I’d probably rule out drugs. Age between fifty and sixty – hard to tell for sure with someone in this state.’

‘Any idea of cause of death?’

‘A number of possibilities. He had a blurred, brownish tinge around his knees and elbows, and some sludging of the blood in the small vessels of many of his organs. Both of these would indicate hypothermia.’

‘But it was warm that night?’ Mina asks.

‘It wouldn’t have taken much. If he was wet from the rain, plus his low body mass?’ Steph shrugs. ‘I wouldn’t rule it out. But given he was found inside a chest freezer, hypoxia is the most likely possibility, especially considering the clear cyanosis of the skin of his face. It wouldn’t have taken long to suffocate in that freezer.’

They’re all quiet for a moment, considering this man’s last moments.

‘Any signs of foul play?’ Freya asks.

‘A few,’ Steph replies. ‘He had scratches on his forearms, two broken fingers and a number of torn fingernails, although it’s hard to tell whether they are related to cause of death or just his way of life. I’ve taken scrapings from under his fingernails and from inside his mouth.’ Steph acknowledges Freya’s blank look. ‘In case he bit someone, or similar. No evidence of sexual assault,’ she adds.

‘Time of death?’ Mina asks. ‘You mentioned no more than eight hours yesterday.’

Steph nods. ‘Being in a contained space like a freezer can slow down decay because it prevents carrion insect infestation. The overwhelming majority of soft-tissue destruction is due to feeding by insect larvae,’ she explains. ‘But in John Doe’s case, when we got there in the morning, his body was still comparatively warm and stiff.’

‘So he died some time Tuesday night?’ Freya asks. ‘The night of the storm.’

‘Yes. I’d estimate between eleven p.m. and three a.m.’

Freya and Mina thank her, then walk, dispirited, to their car. They know the freezer has been shipped to the lab, where the techies will examine it for trace and fingerprints. Freya hopes something will point them one way or the other, give them a direction to take the investigation.

But which is better? she thinks, as Mina starts the engine. It’s tragic, whichever way they look at it. Suffocated, desperate for oxygen. Or soaking wet, freezing to death. Alone. Scared. Nobody should end their life like that.

And, worse, they have no idea who he was.