‘This is a close-up X-ray of our victim’s upper throat region,’ Pullen explained. ‘If I get too technical, or you don’t understand anything, let me know.’ Using a mortuary scalpel, Pullen pointed to a small bone at the top of the throat on the X-ray. ‘This little horseshoe-shaped bone here is called the hyoid bone. It helps support our tongue movement and swallowing. The dark line just here is a small fracture of the hyoid, which indicates trauma to the neck. Although a fracture like this can occur in road traffic accidents or as the result of a contact sports injury, it is most commonly associated with strangulation.’

‘A manual strangulation?’ Jane asked.

‘Or a ligature may have been used.’

‘There may be some fibres deposited on her neck and headdress from a ligature. I’ll take some tapings. We might find something to help identify the type of ligature used,’ Lloyd said.

Boon looked confused. ‘If she was strangled to death and put in the coffin, then how did the scratch marks get on the inside of the lid?’

‘Good question, DC Boon. However, you don’t have to be strangled to death for the hyoid bone to fracture,’ Pullen said.

‘So, she could have been strangled to a point of unconsciousness, put in the coffin, then regained consciousness,’ Jane suggested.

‘And in a state of sheer panic scratched the lid before suffocating to death,’ Boon added.

‘That’s what I thought at first . . . until I saw this.’ Pullen replaced the X-ray with another one and again used the scalpel blade as a pointer. ‘This is the top section of the spine, which is made up of small bones known as the vertebrae, which protect the spinal cord and nerve roots that run through them. We refer to the top vertebra, where it joins the skull, as C1, the next C2, then C3 and so on. Can you see the tiny shaded triangular shape in between the C3 and C4 vertebrae?’

‘Is her spine broken?’ Lloyd asked.

‘Severed possibly, but I can’t be certain until I dissect the neck and examine the spine,’ Pullen said. She then held the scalpel blade just below the triangular shape on the X- ray and the similarity to the tip of the blade was obvious.

‘She was stabbed with a scalpel!’ Boon exclaimed.

‘The X-ray images are smaller than the real thing, but yes, she may have been stabbed. The object in between the vertebrae could be the broken tip of a knife blade.’

‘If her spinal cord was severed would it have caused paralysis?’ Jane asked.

Pullen nodded. ‘Yes. A cervical vertebrae injury in the C1 to C5 section is the most severe. In the worst cases all communication between the brain and bod, below the injury, would instantly be cut off, including the ability to breathe properly, which would lead to a terrifying death.’

Jane looked shocked at the thought. ‘Her assailant must have strangled her, then put the body in the coffin thinking she was dead and secured the clasps . . . which would explain the scratch marks.’