Hard Bite by Anonymous-9

Author:Anonymous-9 [Anonymous-9]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Blasted Heath
Published: 2012-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Please keep the area clean.

Today so far, things are relatively quiet. He grabs a mask and puts it over his nose and mouth. Sherryl Lynn is still clothed. Claire collects small samples of hair and materials with a pair of tweezers, depositing each sample into small glass jars. She cuts the remaining clothes away from the body and performs a quick series of swabs that will reveal, after analysis, if Miss Hastings was raped or sexual assault was involved. Snapping the lid closed on the swab receptacles, it's time for a close look at Sherryl's arms and hands. "No defense wounds," she says abstractly, moving on to the nearest stab wounds. "Maggots." Taking a fine scalpel, she opens one of the entrance areas and gives no indication of the smell releasing from the opening. Doug reflexively tucks his tie inside his shirt. The room may have been clean when they started, but when probing begins on a body in decomp, it doesn't stay that way for long. No telling what will spray across the room.

"I'm changing my mind about the stabbing," Claire announces, without lifting her eyes.

"Huh, why?"

"You know how raccoons have those long claws?"

"Uh huh..." Where is she going with this?

"I've seen this before. They like to make entry wounds in a cadaver and then come back later to scoop maggots out of the site." Claire smiles at Doug's wretched expression.

"Sort of like takeout for coons?"

"Possums do it too. They come back again and again to the body." She probes at another festering wound. "That's what it looks like to me. Anyway, I'll test the materials on her clothing, check the wound sites and wait for the coroner."

"If she wasn't stabbed, what killed her?"

"Most likely the fall. If toxicology comes back clean and internal injuries are consistent with a fall, then that's what most likely happened."

Doug scratches his chin. "Could've been an accident? She sure wasn't robbed. But how did she get up there? Her car was parked in Santa Monica."

"Let me know what you find. Right now, we're going to start cutting."

"I'm leaving. I'll call the bureau and notify the family that it's not been deemed a homicide." He moves to go, then pauses. "You know, Doctor Claire, the first time I came to an autopsy, an ME came by and says to me, 'Don't worry, Doug, around here you won't have to lift a finger.' The guy reaches out and picks a severed thumb off my shoulder. A real severed thumb. Somebody put it there as a joke. That was my welcome around here."

Claire's eyes twinkle. "Keepin' it light for you, Detective. That's the way we play it 'round here." One of the vials with hair in it is still in her hand. She shakes it at him. "Thanks for keeping a sense of humor."

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.