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Authors: Katherine Pathak
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this was now a murder inquiry had made her officers more alert, she could already sense the tension in the room.
‘I want Dan and Alice to question Mhairi Henderson again today. Wait until she’s home from work. Once she knows that Nathan is dead, the girl may open up a bit more,’ the DCI announced.
‘What does the pathologist’s report tell us?’ Andy asked Bevan directly.
Dani slipped a pile of photographs out of an envelope and began attaching them to the boards. ‘Nathan McLaren died some time on Saturday night. The pathologist can’t be any more precise than that. It’s been very warm since then and inside that black bag it became incredibly hot, even if the water brought the temperature down a little.’
DC Clifton grimaced, observing the gruesome effect the heat had had on the corpse.
The DCI continued, ‘Nathan’s body had been viciously beaten before death. But Dr Muir found fragments of material in his mouth and throat. This discovery, in addition to the blueness of the face, made the pathologist conclude that Nathan had died of asphyxiation.’
‘Was there any indication of what had been placed in his mouth?’ Phil enquired.
Dani shook her head. ‘There was nothing in the bin bag or near the dump site. We have to assume the killer took it with them. Dr Muir suggested a scarf of some kind, or a small item of clothing, like underpants or a sock.’ She took a deliberate step forward. ‘Dr Muir discovered something else. While they were stripping the body, he was surprised to note that the wedding ring was missing from his left hand.’
‘It’s not so surprising, if Nathan was planning to meet a lover,’ Phil declared. ‘He’d probably taken it off.’
Dani raised an eyebrow. ‘Aye, but the doc didn’t find it in his pocket. The ring was only discovered well into the PM. It was stuck halfway along Nathan McLaren’s oesophagus.’
‘Is that what killed him?’ Phil’s face had gone white.
‘Dr Muir believes that Nathan would still have been able to breathe with the obstruction there. It was whatever was stuffed in his mouth later that suffocated him.’
‘So, this killing might not have been premeditated,’ Andy suggested. ‘If the murderer’s only weapon was fists plus whatever came to hand to smother the victim.’
‘It’s possible. But there’s another aspect too.’ Dani shifted her weight from one foot to the other. ‘Dr Muir found evidence of recent sexual activity on the body. He believes that McLaren was subject to anal penetration at some time before his death.’
‘Rape?’ Alice Mann asked.
Bevan shrugged her shoulders. ‘It’s inconclusive. There were physical signs of sex but no semen deposits. The perpetrator either used a condom or a foreign body to penetrate McLaren.’
Andy Calder’s face had lost its colour. ‘Was McLaren a homosexual? Is that what he was doing in that park – cruising for a bloke?’
‘I think we have to assume that’s the case. Unless somebody here believes there’s another, more plausible explanation for Nathan McLaren’s presence in Balgray Park at 10pm on a Saturday night?’
Bevan glanced around at the officers standing before her. Nobody uttered a single word.
Chapter 12
M hairi Henderson lived with her parents in a detached house in Pollok. The young woman had not been home long from work when DCs Clifton and Mann turned up.
Mhairi seemed surprised to see the police
‘I want Dan and Alice to question Mhairi Henderson again today. Wait until she’s home from work. Once she knows that Nathan is dead, the girl may open up a bit more,’ the DCI announced.
‘What does the pathologist’s report tell us?’ Andy asked Bevan directly.
Dani slipped a pile of photographs out of an envelope and began attaching them to the boards. ‘Nathan McLaren died some time on Saturday night. The pathologist can’t be any more precise than that. It’s been very warm since then and inside that black bag it became incredibly hot, even if the water brought the temperature down a little.’
DC Clifton grimaced, observing the gruesome effect the heat had had on the corpse.
The DCI continued, ‘Nathan’s body had been viciously beaten before death. But Dr Muir found fragments of material in his mouth and throat. This discovery, in addition to the blueness of the face, made the pathologist conclude that Nathan had died of asphyxiation.’
‘Was there any indication of what had been placed in his mouth?’ Phil enquired.
Dani shook her head. ‘There was nothing in the bin bag or near the dump site. We have to assume the killer took it with them. Dr Muir suggested a scarf of some kind, or a small item of clothing, like underpants or a sock.’ She took a deliberate step forward. ‘Dr Muir discovered something else. While they were stripping the body, he was surprised to note that the wedding ring was missing from his left hand.’
‘It’s not so surprising, if Nathan was planning to meet a lover,’ Phil declared. ‘He’d probably taken it off.’
Dani raised an eyebrow. ‘Aye, but the doc didn’t find it in his pocket. The ring was only discovered well into the PM. It was stuck halfway along Nathan McLaren’s oesophagus.’
‘Is that what killed him?’ Phil’s face had gone white.
‘Dr Muir believes that Nathan would still have been able to breathe with the obstruction there. It was whatever was stuffed in his mouth later that suffocated him.’
‘So, this killing might not have been premeditated,’ Andy suggested. ‘If the murderer’s only weapon was fists plus whatever came to hand to smother the victim.’
‘It’s possible. But there’s another aspect too.’ Dani shifted her weight from one foot to the other. ‘Dr Muir found evidence of recent sexual activity on the body. He believes that McLaren was subject to anal penetration at some time before his death.’
‘Rape?’ Alice Mann asked.
Bevan shrugged her shoulders. ‘It’s inconclusive. There were physical signs of sex but no semen deposits. The perpetrator either used a condom or a foreign body to penetrate McLaren.’
Andy Calder’s face had lost its colour. ‘Was McLaren a homosexual? Is that what he was doing in that park – cruising for a bloke?’
‘I think we have to assume that’s the case. Unless somebody here believes there’s another, more plausible explanation for Nathan McLaren’s presence in Balgray Park at 10pm on a Saturday night?’
Bevan glanced around at the officers standing before her. Nobody uttered a single word.
Chapter 12
M hairi Henderson lived with her parents in a detached house in Pollok. The young woman had not been home long from work when DCs Clifton and Mann turned up.
Mhairi seemed surprised to see the police
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