Chapter 21

Alec glanced up again at the photographer, who was bent over his kit again. “Has anyone touched the body?”

“Not that I saw.”

His answer was short.

“And you’re sure you’ve never seen him before?”

“I said.”

Grant came up at that point and Alec asked him, “Had anyone been through his pockets before I got here?”

Grant shook his head.

“No, sir. Left him for you, as usual.” He paused. “The two dockers who reported it said they saw a man running away.”

“Where are they?”

Grant gestured economically to the men in working clothes, talking to a constable beside the police Crossley they had started using to ferry the men about.

“They saw them fighting as they were passing the end of the alley and chased the attacker off, but they were too far away to get a good look at him, and the man was dead by the time they reached him. Can’t give a good description—they’ve both been drinking and say he jumped the wall at the end of the alley.”