Predator 2 by Simon Hawke

Author:Simon Hawke [Hawke, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0515105783
Publisher: Jove Books
Published: 1990-12-17T08:00:00+00:00

Dr. Irene Edwards, Chief Pathologist and Medical Examiner of the City of Los Angeles, was a distinguished-looking woman in her early fifties, with a studious demeanor and a brisk, businesslike manner of speaking. Lambert fidgeted uncomfortably in her presence. It wasn’t so much the woman as what she did that made him feel ill at ease. He couldn’t figure out what made someone decide to work with dead bodies for a living. Especially a woman. A regular doctor he could understand, but what makes someone want to choose a profession where they spend all their time dissecting stiffs? As a cop he’d seen more than his share of dead bodies, even after only a short time on the force, but the thought of actually spending each and every day cutting them open made his stomach feel queasy.

Dr. Edwards snapped a couple of X-rays into place upon the backlit screen and pointed to them as she spoke. “Death was the result of a massive intrusion into the chest cavity by an edged weapon,” she said, matter-of-factly, “which nearly cleaved the chest in two. Death was instantaneous,” she added, with a quick glance at Harrigan.

He nodded, grateful for the information. At least it had been quick and Danny hadn’t suffered. Maybe it wasn’t much, he thought, but at least it was something.

“The officer fell approximately twenty feet to the floor,” Dr. Edwards continued, looking at the X-rays, “which is indicated by the massive hematomas and fractures to the left side of the body.” She paused a moment. “The killer then removed the vertebral column and skull from the body. The muscles, ligaments and cartilage attaching the spine to the rib cage were severed all in one massive stroke, better than any surgical instrument could have done. Boned like a fish,” she added, not meaning to be insensitive, but unable to think of any other way to put it. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

She glanced around at Lambert, who was examining some of the equipment.

“Don’t touch anything,” she said curtly, like a parent to an overly curious child.

“Don’t worry,” said Lambert with a grimace.

“What kind of weapon?” Harrigan asked her, with an impatient glance at Lambert.

“Double-edged,” said Dr. Edwards, “twelve to fourteen inches long, razor-sharp, but with some highly unusual properties.”

She went over to a small lab refrigerator and took out a glass slide, which she then placed on the stage of an electron microscope. Harrigan and Lambert moved over to stand beside her. An image flickered on the video screen, moving through several stages of magnification as she made the fine adjustments.

“This is a bone sample,” she explained, “taken from what was left of the vertebral column. We’re at 150,000 times normal magnification. That gray-black haze you see over the cell structure is some kind of residue left by the weapon.”

“Like metal traces left by a bullet?” Lambert asked.

“Yes,” she said, “but I believe this material is not from the weapon itself, but some kind of lubricant, adhering to the blade, creating a more efficient medium of cutting.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.