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a better birdwatcher than me. Anyway, I was a couple of hundred yards short of the obelisk. You get a clear view of the Agglestone from there and I often look at it. I could see a shape that looked like a body, but I thought it was just an optical trick. I walked on towards the obelisk and had another look. After that, there wasn’t much doubt in my mind. So I phoned the police.’
    ‘Was anybody else around, Mr Kirby? Up on that path? Maybe even looking northwards like you?’ Marsh said.
    ‘No. It’s usually busier at weekends or in summer, but midweek, at that time in the morning, I often have the place to myself. The wind was picking up, so when your woman asked me to stay where I was I lost my rag a bit. I was dressed warmly enough for walking, but not for hanging around for hours.’
    ‘How often do you go up there for a walk?’
    Kirby shrugged. ‘Maybe two or three times week. It really depends on the weather.’
    ‘When was the last time?’
    ‘Sunday. Three days ago. The mist has been down since then. Today was the first clear day.’
    ‘Could you see the Agglestone then?’
    ‘I can’t be sure. If I did, there was nothing unusual about it. But I may not have looked across there. There are only a couple of places where you can see it, and I only bother when the dog’s busy sniffing around. If she runs on ahead, I follow without stopping,’ said Kirby.
    ‘We’d like you to take us up there, if you don’t mind, sir. But don’t worry. We’ll collect our Land Rover from the station and drive up. It will save us a lot of time.’
    * * *
    Ballard Down forms the easternmost part of the Purbeck Hills. This chalk ridge stretches from Lulworth in the west to Handfast Point at the eastern end, just north of Swanage. Later that morning, the three men were standing on a path that ran along the top of the ridge. Kirby showed the two detectives the three positions from which the top of the Agglestone could be seen. Looking through Kirby’s powerful binoculars, Marsh was able to watch the activity on and around the rock. The top was now under the shelter of a tent-like structure, but there was no doubt that a body stretched out on the surface would have been visible from this position. Melsom took some photos to give an idea of the view. They walked back to the Land Rover and returned to Swanage just as a misty drizzle started to move in from the sea. The top of Ballard Down was now hidden under a blanket of grey murk.
    Marsh phoned through to county HQ and spoke to Matt Silver, the detective superintendent responsible for East Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth.
    * * *
    In the early afternoon they were back at the rock, talking to David Nash, the forensic chief.
    ‘Any clues as to how long the body’s been here?’ asked Marsh.
    ‘Too early to be certain, but a couple of days at least. It’s stone cold, with no residual heat at all. We’ve just about finished, so we’ll move it off the rock soon. It’ll go to the lab at Dorchester. I’ve been on the phone to Doctor Goodall and done everything he asked,’ said Nash.
    ‘I’m a bit surprised he’s not here.’
    ‘Hurt his hip playing rugby at the weekend, so he can’t climb. Don’t worry, we’ve collected all the information we can, and we’ve been filming everything live. He’s been watching from his base.’
    Marsh was worried. Neither the DCI nor the senior pathologist had actually been to the scene. It left him with all the responsibility.
    ‘Jimmy, we need to get a house-to-house organised. We’ll have to check every home in the village in case anybody’s seen anything unusual or suspicious. Let’s get back to base and speak to Tom Rose about it. The sooner we get started the better.’
    * * *
    Inspector Tom Rose was the senior uniformed officer in charge of Swanage and the surrounding district.
    ‘Okay, Barry,’ he said. ‘We’ll pull every man back from anything that isn’t absolutely vital and send them all over to Studland. I just hope