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them.
    ‘Can’t we get any closer in the car?’ asked Melsom.
    Marsh gave him a withering look. ‘And churn up the surface of the track? Come on, Jimmy, you’re a detective now. The first thing I did was to order the area to be sealed off. The paths around here are all sandy. Even just a couple of vehicles will wipe out any tracks. I just hope the squad that got here first haven’t ruined the surface.’
    Melsom looked crestfallen. ‘Sorry.’
    ‘Morning, sir,’ said the uniformed constable. ‘We have two men at the rock itself, and the other car is at the north end of the path. The trouble is that there are so many paths all over the heath. We haven’t been able to close them all yet. Once we get another couple of squad cars here, we can seal the whole area.’
    ‘Any medical people or forensics here yet?’ asked Marsh.
    ‘No. But they’re due any time now. We’ve marked out another path so that the main track isn’t disturbed. Just look for the blue markers.’
    The two detectives started the ten minute walk towards the huge rock. A chill breeze was blowing in from the sea.
    ‘Will we have to call in the DCI?’ asked Melsom.
    ‘Only if I think it might be murder. If it’s just a natural death, then we’ll deal with it locally. Disappointed?’ Marsh said.
    ‘Kind of. It opened my eyes a bit, being involved in a murder case. And she took the time to explain things to me. She made me feel important.’
    ‘You got carried away by her looks and brains, didn’t you?’ Marsh laughed.
    ‘All I can say is that life at the station hasn’t been the same since that case closed and she went back to HQ. Even you have to admit that. It’s all a bit boring, isn’t it?’
    ‘But that’s routine police work, Jimmy. In our patch a murder comes along once in a blue moon. You got hooked, didn’t you?’
    Melsom shrugged. ‘I quite fancy being in charge of a murder squad.’
    ‘Get real, Jimmy. She’s got a law degree and a master’s in criminal psychology. What have you got? A handful of GCSEs?’
    ‘But I could work at it. You know, get the force to sponsor me with the Open University or something. Think of McGreedie, that DI at Bournemouth. He didn’t come up by the fast track. She thinks a lot of him too. He’s really good.’
    ‘Do you realise the pressure they’re under? Do you want all that strain and anxiety? I always thought you were an easy-come, easy-go sort of person,’ said Marsh.
    ‘Yeah, but I may not always be like that. Anyway, all I was saying is that they’ve both had an effect on the way I think about things.’
    ‘Well, that’s a good thing. Let’s face it, you weren’t exactly the world’s most thoughtful detective, Jimmy. So if working for her has made you see things differently, it’s all to the good.’
    They approached the Agglestone mound from the east. Two uniformed officers were standing guard, and had marked out a narrow path across the mound’s surface to the base of the huge rock above it. A ladder stood propped against the side.
    ‘We kept our approach to that line you can see,’ said the taller constable. ‘Just to warn you, it isn’t a pretty sight up there. We didn’t go too close.’
    Marsh told Melsom to remain below, and started to climb up. The ladder didn’t take him all the way to the top. He scrambled the rest of the way along a protruding shelf of rock.
    At the summit, in the exact centre of the rock, a man’s body lay spread-eagled. The lower part of the body was still clothed in a ragged pair of jeans but the upper torso was bare. Marsh started by the feet, forcing himself to look at one section of the body at a time, trying to distance himself from the horror in front of him. The throat had been cut, leaving a gaping wound open to the elements. Streaks of dried blood had coagulated around the body’s open mouth. The eyes had been pecked out. Crows probably, thought Marsh. He looked away and took several deep breaths before bending down to