'Almost nothing has been touched, Inspector,' he said. 'I remembered what you once told me about the scene of a crime. Important clues could be lost if people trampled all over it or, in the case of a murder, if the body was moved before it had been properly examined.'

'We're very grateful to you,' said Colbeck.

Stockdale unlocked the door. 'What you're about to see,' he told them with a grim smile, 'is exactly what the manager saw – though unlike Mr Pugh, you will not have an attack of hysteria.'

The door swung open and they stepped into the room. Colbeck and Leeming surveyed the scene. The corpse lay on its back on the rumpled bed. He was wearing a shirt that was partly unbuttoned, an open waistcoat, a pair of trousers and some stockings. His shoes were on the floor beside the bed and his coat and cravat over a chair. His bowler hat stood on a small table in front of which was an empty leather bag. There was bruising on the victim's face and dried blood on his forehead from a scalp wound. What made Leeming catch his breath was that the man's mouth and chin were disfigured as if they had been badly scalded.

'Some kind of acid was used,' explained Stockdale. 'The killer poured it down his throat. Some of it spilt on his face.'

Colbeck walked around the bed so that he could view the body from a different angle. He bent close to scrutinise it. Then he crossed to the open window and looked out. His gaze shifted to the coat.

'What did you find in that?' he asked.

'Very little,' replied Stockdale. 'It looks to me as if his wallet was stolen along with the coffee pot. All that remained were the things you see on the dressing table – an invoice from his employer, a second class ticket to Paddington and a business card.'

Colbeck went over to pick up the card. 'Nigel Buckmaster,' he read aloud. 'Now there's a name I know well.'