Jane smiled and did a thumbs-up. ‘Prof Martin is happy for Dr Pullen to . . .’

‘I heard what Boon said,’ Stanley interrupted.

Jane smiled. ‘Well, the Prof obviously has faith in her ability and judgement . . . unlike some people.’

‘I’ll be with you in half an hour. Don’t start the PM without me,’ he added and banged the phone down.

CHAPTER FIVE

While Boon went to the hospital canteen to get a sandwich, Jane looked in the Yellow Pages for Father Floridia’s phone number and called to update him about the discovery of the body, but there was no answer. She was about to return to the mortuary examination room when Pullen walked in. Jane told her that the coroner wanted a full post-mortem and Professor Martin was happy for her to do it, and if she needed his assistance to call him.

‘Thanks, Jane,’ she replied nervously.

‘You don’t look pleased.’

‘I know it sounds silly,’ Pullen sighed, ‘but I feel like a schoolkid about to do my first recorder solo on stage.’

Jane smiled. ‘You’ll be fine. Believe me, Prof Martin wouldn’t let you go solo if he didn’t think you were up to it. Plus the audience will be much smaller.’ Jane added, ‘Are you going to do the X-rays in the hospital radiography department?’

Pullen shook her head. ‘For health reasons they won’t let me, due to the state of the body. But it turns out they have a mobile X-ray machine on site and the radiographer is doing them as we speak. I had a quick look in the nether regions of the body and can definitely say it’s a female. I also measured her height and she’s only five foot two.’

Jane frowned. ‘That’s a small body for a big coffin.’

Pullen nodded. ‘The coffin is just over seven feet long.’

‘Father Floridia thought a nun would normally be buried in a wooden coffin,’ Jane said.

‘The plot thickens,’ Pullen said, raising her eyebrows.

The more Jane engaged with Sam Pullen, the more she liked her down-to-earth attitude and affable personality. Jane told her about PC Rogers’ faux pas with the coroner and Sam said he had it coming and deserved no sympathy.

Jane was making a coffee for the two of them and had her back to the door when she noticed Pullen look towards it. Thinking it was Boon she put a teaspoon of instant coffee in another cup.

‘Can I help you?’ Pullen asked.

At the door was a handsome black man in his mid-thirties with short afro hair and a smooth complexion. Dressed casually in dark grey Farah slacks, a blue-and-white striped shirt and woollen jacket, his clothes accentuated his slim body and muscular frame.

‘Believe it or not, I’m actually here to help you,’ he smiled. He spoke with a London accent.

Jane thought the voice sounded familiar and, looking at the reflection in the window in front of her, instantly recognised her former colleague from her days on the Flying Squad. She felt a rush of affection on seeing him, yet at the same time a mixture of anxiety and guilt, wondering how he would react on meeting her again, nearly two and a half years since the day he had been shot and nearly killed by an armed robber.