running, taking Callanach’s weight, slipping one arm around him as the nurse pulled back a curtain to reveal an unused cubicle.
A doctor was with him in moments, stripping him and rolling him onto one side to press gentle fingers down the length of his spine.
‘Could you just give me some painkillers?’ Callanach snapped. ‘I’m with the man who’s just come in with a heart attack. And the superintendent is due any minute. I really can’t be on my back when she arrives.’
The doctor wrote a couple of notes whilst managing simultaneously to look completely bored.
‘Have you had a bad fall?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ Callanach said. ‘I slipped, but it wasn’t that dramatic.’
‘It was dramatic enough that it appears to have fractured your coccyx. You must have landed on the edge of it pretty hard. The injury won’t limit normal activities, but it’s going to be painful for six weeks or so,’ the doctor said.
A voice that was authoritative and impatient in equal measure echoed down the row of cubicles.
‘I appreciate the fact that I am not family but I do have an amount of authority here. DCI Begbie became ill at a crime scene for which I am responsible, in the capacity of his immediate superior representing his employer. And where’s Detective Inspector Callanach?’
Callanach rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth as the doctor pressed more firmly against the base of his spine to complete the diagnosis.
‘Sorry, who?’ a nurse beyond the curtain asked.
‘Ugh,’ Superintendent Overbeck groaned. ‘Police officer, French accent, tallish, popular with the ladies.’
‘Oh, I know,’ the nurse replied. ‘He’s with the doctor, too. Just in this cubicle. You can visit him once the doctor has finished.’
‘Finished like hell,’ Overbeck said, ripping the curtain aside and walking in.
‘I’m with a patient,’ the doctor said. Callanach frantically but ineffectually tried to cover his backside with the edge of the sheet he was lying on.
‘Discharging him will solve that problem,’ Overbeck snapped. ‘Begbie’s having a heart attack and you’re in here getting a free back massage, Callanach. Get some clothes on, man. Unless you’re actually dying I want a debrief immediately.’
‘This patient has a fractured coccyx. It’s badly damaged and he’s in a lot of pain. I need to ask you to leave,’ the doctor said.
‘It’s all right,’ Callanach muttered. ‘I’ll be straight out, ma’am.’
The nurse handed him a gown.
‘You need medication, rest and further investigations. There’s no way you’re fit for work,’ the doctor said. ‘I’m signing you off from duties.’
‘Am I right in thinking there’s another body on its way to the mortuary, Detective Inspector?’ the superintendent asked. Callanach nodded. ‘Then are you fit for duty, or shall I have someone wheel you out in a nice comfy blanket?’
‘That won’t be necessary,’ Callanach said.
The doctor stared at him. ‘I’ll give you a shot to kill the pain. You’ll need a prescription to get you through the next couple of weeks. Avoid sitting for too long. No cycling, rowing, weightlifting or other sports that put a strain on your tailbone.’
‘What’s happening?’ Ava asked, appearing around the corner of the curtain. Callanach sighed.
‘Apparently the detective inspector needed a nap,’ the superintendent said. The doctor threw her a look that would have shamed most people. Overbeck seemed to take it as a compliment. ‘I’m going to express my sincere concern to Begbie’s wife. What’s her name again?’
‘Glynis,’ Ava said.
‘That’s right. You two, with me in five minutes.’ She stalked off, leaving the doctor to fill a hypodermic syringe. Ava turned her back as it was administered.
‘How’s the chief doing?’ Callanach asked.
‘Stable. It was more of a warning than full-blown cardiac arrest. He won’t be going home tonight and his wife’s very upset, but he’ll live.’
‘I’m sure the Super will make the Begbies feel much better,’ Callanach muttered. Ava smirked. The doctor cleared the room and pulled the curtain across to give them privacy. Ava kept her back turned as Callanach put the forensics suit back on.
‘You decent now?’ Ava asked after a minute.
‘More than I was when Overbeck walked in without any warning. She didn’t even break stride. Just stood there with me half-naked.’
‘Some day you’re having,’ Ava said. ‘Listen, Ailsa phoned me back. She told me what you walked into. It’s no wonder the chief reacted the way he did. Are you okay? Only I can make your excuses with Overbeck, get a car to take you home …’
‘I don’t think I’d have a job to come back to in the morning,’ Callanach joked. ‘A drink after work would be good though, if you’re not busy. It’ll be more fun than just taking painkillers.’
Ava paused before meeting his eyes. ‘That sounds like a good idea. I’ll meet you back at the station. We can go on from there.’
It was two in the afternoon before Callanach left the hospital, and his next stop was the mortuary. Ailsa was waiting for him with coffee as he walked into her office.
‘You’re walking strangely,’ she said.
‘I fractured my arse,’ Callanach replied.
Ailsa burst into a fit of laughing he hadn’t expected.
‘I’m sorry, dear, I shouldn’t be laughing. Alternate hot and cold compresses. Make sure you have a soft enough mattress. It’s painful. Was that when you slipped under poor Mr Swan’s body?’ He nodded. ‘I needed the laugh. It’s been quite a day and I’m afraid it’s not over yet. Drink the coffee. Take some painkillers if you need them. We have to go and spend some time with the body.’
Callanach had known he wouldn’t get away with simply being given an oral report. He’d viewed hundreds of dead bodies in his time, witnessed scores of autopsies, but this one was going to leave an indelible memory. He did as suggested and swallowed tablets before getting a gown and going in.
‘Has Mrs Swan been in for a formal identification yet?’ Callanach asked.
‘She has indeed, although I wish we could have spared her that,’ Ailsa said. ‘I replaced the skin over his face and did my best to make her husband look as he had in life, but there was very little softening the blow. I think Tuscany would be nice to retire to, don’t you? Warm climate, olives trees, good food. Have you been there?’
‘I have,’ Callanach said. ‘But I didn’t know you were retiring, Ailsa.’
‘Neither did I, Detective Inspector. But today, for perhaps the first time, it occurred to me that there is more to life, to what’s left of mine anyway, than this. Now, here we are. Look closely at the incision marks around the face. We pulled the edges of skin back together and took some photographs to make it easier to see. These are the marks close up.’ She moved back from the corpse to a computer and pressed a button. Immediately an image filled the screen that would have been impossible to understand had Callanach not been told what he was looking at.
The skin was grey either side of the wound, the central gash a line of black. The skin on the right-hand side of the incision was smooth, but on the left there were minute tags regularly along the path of the cut. Ailsa pointed along the uneven side.
‘Caused by the blade,’ Ailsa said. ‘The weapon was extremely fine and extremely sharp. What you’re seeing wouldn’t have been visible to the naked eye. We