Minerva is sorting out the best way to cover the area, but the guy was a mover. She has more forensics guys and uniforms coming in to help.”

“No sign of Superintendent Stroud?”

“Nick is on his way, but, as he was at a police gala in Liverpool, I’m not sure he will make it here anytime soon. He asked me to take the lead on this one,” Drew said.

“Okay, I'll let you get on. You want me on door-to-door I expect?”

“No, Dimitri and a few others are already on that. Can you chase up the pathologist, I want to know if there is anything we need to follow up on straight away.”

Alex left Drew and headed into the forensic tent. Inside, a young lab assistant, with a scorbutic face and nervous expression, handed her white overalls and a pair of slips for her shoes. She stepped into the overalls, zipping them to her neck and wrapping the hood over her head, before pulling on the elasticated shoe covers. They were a reminder of why she always kept a pair of flats in the car, attempting to stomp across crime scenes in heels was never a good idea.

Overhead lights had been set up all around the area, as if ready for a photo-shoot. Sure, the dead guy would get his photo taken, but the parallels ended there. As she approached the entrance to the gardens, the dark outline of the victim became apparent against the gate. The body lay slouched and almost peaceful, propped against the railings, the only sign something was wrong was the small pool of blood that collected where he lay. Alex stepped through the open half of the gate to find a man awkwardly hunched over the body.

“What we got Chris?” Alex said.

“Not pretty Alex, multiple lacerations across the body, his hamstring has been cut - essentially your killer slowly incapacitated him. All these wounds wouldn't have killed him though. You can see where he crawled across the grass and onto this step when the killer finally finished him off. Throat has been slit like the others, a clean cut and impossibly straight,” Chris said.

“The incapacitating is new though, we haven't seen that before.”

“No and there is also something very peculiar about him.”

Following Chris's signal, Alex bent down and put on the purple latex gloves she had been given by the spotted lab tech. The victim was a fairly attractive man in his late forties, with jet black hair that flopped over his brow. His clothes were torn and bloody, but looked tailored and expensive.

“Look here,” Chris said.

He was pointing to a hole in the victims shirt, which revealed another layer of clothing behind it, the material a dark blue colour.

“From what I can tell, although we will confirm it back at the lab, this is some sort of armour, but not like any I've seen. The force needed to get through it would be quite considerable,” Chris said.

“Why would he be wearing protective clothing? We thinking possibly police or special forces?”

“How can I tell that Alex?”

“No, you are right. We can't jump to conclusions, Christ, that is what put this case into such a mess in the first place.”

“I would imagine we are looking for a man and quite a strong one at that. I'm not sure I could have pierced it, well, at least not with such accurate lines.”

Dr Chris Calder was skeletal in looks and stature, which made his extremely muscular physique the ever more pronounced. Alex imagined his life consisted of the morgue and the gym, which seemed to be the general consensus of everyone who knew him. His budget for supplements and protein shakes probably rivalled Alex's handbag budget, which was by no means meagre.