When she was shown the plaster cast bust of the dead man by DS Leane, Thomson said she could not identify the person depicted. According to Leane, he described her reaction upon seeing the cast as "completely taken aback, to the point of giving the appearance that she was about to faint". In an interview many years later, Paul Lawson – the technician who made the cast and was present when Thomson viewed it – noted that after looking at the bust she immediately looked away and would not look at it again.