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the only conceivable explanation for the non-formation of external hypostases would be if the body had been drained entirely of blood. This is clearly a circumstance so far beyond his personal experience, and even comprehension, that he does not deem it worthy of further discussion.
    Dr Bugsby then went on to consider internal hypostases, which
were
present in the body, but again ‘atypical’. Internal hypostases were generally looked for in the brain, lungs, kidneys, intestines and spinal cord. As gravity did its work, the blood would congest in the area of those organs closest to the ground, usually the rear, as most corpses lie on their backs.
    However, the victim had been found face down, so it would not have been surprising if the blood had gathered at the front of each organ. This was not the case. Internal hypostases were in fact located at the tops of the organs, apparently in defiance of gravity.
    However, Bugsby’s external examination had already noted abrasions around the ankles, which were consistent with rope tearing the skin.
    A picture was emerging. It seemed the victim had been strung up by the ankles while the blood was allowed to drain from the wound in his neck. The absence of blood on his clothes indicated that he was naked when he was killed, whereas the absence of blood on his body suggested that he had been washed after his death.
    The skin was bruised as well as torn at the ankle. His wrists bore similar marks. Quinn believed this meant the victim had been alive when he was bound. Whether he had also been alive when he was strung up was another question.
    One thing was beyond question: his circulatory system was devoid of blood. Upon opening, the pulmonary artery and the vena cava were found to be entirely empty, as was every vein to which the persistent doctor took his scalpel. The heart too. The instances of internal hypostasis were the only evidence of blood remaining inside the body.
    According to the report, the wholesale exsanguination of the corpse made it more difficult to ascertain an accurate time of death. In Dr Bugsby’s opinion, the absence of blood would delay the process of putrefaction, making the body seem better preserved than it would otherwise be. All he could say with any certainty was that the victim had been dead long enough to be drained of all his blood.
    Dr Bugsby also addressed the issue of the victim’s anus, which he described as smooth, enlarged and ‘destitute of
rugae
’. Such an appearance, he declared, was consistent with an addiction to unnatural practices. Seminal discharge inside the rectum, as well as fresh lacerations of the rectal wall, indicated that the victim had recently indulged in his addiction.
    The file shed no light on the identity of the victim. It seemed to Quinn that so far no serious attempts had been made in that direction. Judging from the collated police reports, only the most perfunctory local enquiries had been made, a handful of arbitrary interviews. The wording on the cover of the file was a judgement more than a description, and one that seemed designed to discourage too much zeal in the prosecution of the case, the implication being that he was no great loss. Good riddance, in other words.
    A list of the victim’s effects contained only one item: a silver cigarette case.

The Missing Clue
    F ollowing Sergeant Salt’s example, Quinn knocked on Inspector Langdon’s door and opened it without waiting for a reply.
    ‘Solved it?’
    Quinn ignored Langdon’s facetious greeting. ‘The file mentioned a cigarette case. Found on the body. I would like to see it.’
    ‘I shall see that Sergeant Salt brings it to you.’
    ‘I will need to take it away with me.’
    ‘Provided you sign for it, I can see no objection.’
    ‘Yes, of course.’
    ‘Small items like that have a habit of going missing.’
    Quinn gave Langdon a steady stare. The man seemed to be impugning his honesty. ‘I hope it has not gone missing already.’
    A minuscule