least a couple of days, but probably considerably longer. It looks as though she tried to free her right hand, because the skin on that wrist is more severely damaged than the other and the bruising extends up her hand where she tried to force it through the manacle. She was lying flat on her back on a fairly soft surface, probably a bed. We found some fibres of white cotton in her hair and under her nails that could have come from bed sheets. They’ve gone off for analysis.’
He was silent for a moment.
‘What can you tell us about the missing finger?’ Geraldine prompted him.
‘It’s impossible to determine whether the right index finger was cut off while she was alive, without examining the site where the injury was inflicted. There’s no blood on her clothes but she’s wearing short sleeves so that’s not conclusive, and there’s no way of ascertaining the extent of the bleeding, if any.’
Geraldine studied the dead woman’s face, misshapen with swellings, one eye closed beneath an inflamed lid, the other seeming to stare straight back at her in wordless rage.
‘Can you be more specific about the beating?’
‘She suffered a powerful blow to the side of her head with some hard object, resulting in a fatal cerebral bleed. Her nose was broken, her cheek bones smashed. Her arms and shoulders suffered severe bruising probably from the same blunt instrument, or there may have been a series of impacts if she was thrown around, perhaps in the back of a van, or even dragged downstairs, before she died.’
He pointed to the woman’s shoulders.
‘So it was the blow to the head that killed her?’ Geraldine asked after a brief silence.
‘Her skull was fractured by a severe blow. Cause of death was cerebral bleeding but the shock might just as easily have killed her anyway in her weakened state. She was severely dehydrated and her stomach was empty. There was nothing in the duodenum or the intestinal tract, in other words she hadn’t eaten anything for at least two or three days before she died. She was absolutely filthy, and soiled herself several times before she died.’
He heaved a deep sigh.
‘So young.’
‘Was she raped?’
‘There’s no sign of any violent sexual encounter although she had recently been sexually active, and she had an abortion some years ago when she must have been quite young, possibly underage. She wasn’t raped, but it looks as though she was chained to a bed before she was battered to death.’
‘When did she die?’
‘I can’t say for certain. She was left outside during the night but had already been dead for at least twenty-four hours before that. The plastic bin bag offered some insulation of course, but we don’t know the conditions she was kept in before last night.’
He pointed at the greenish tinge that spread across the dead woman’s abdomen up to her chest and down her upper thighs.
‘Discoloration has spread but there’s no blistering. I’d say she’s been dead for two or three days, maybe longer.’
‘Can’t you be more specific?’
He shook his head.
‘I could hazard a guess at three days, but without knowing the circumstances under which the body was stored, and the temperature it was kept at, I can’t give you an exact time of death.’
He turned back to the body.
‘She wasn’t wearing any shoes but the skin underneath her feet isn’t scratched or torn so it doesn’t appear that she walked anywhere barefoot. It looks as though her killer removed her shoes. And her finger, of course, which was sliced off with a small razor sharp saw.’
Geraldine frowned impatiently.
‘This was presumably a personal attack, but until we know who she was that line of enquiry remains closed to us.’
‘Why not just kill her at once and be done with it? Why torment the poor girl like that?’ Sam asked, unable to hide her frustration. ‘It doesn’t make sense to tie her up then starve and beat her if he was going to kill her
He was silent for a moment.
‘What can you tell us about the missing finger?’ Geraldine prompted him.
‘It’s impossible to determine whether the right index finger was cut off while she was alive, without examining the site where the injury was inflicted. There’s no blood on her clothes but she’s wearing short sleeves so that’s not conclusive, and there’s no way of ascertaining the extent of the bleeding, if any.’
Geraldine studied the dead woman’s face, misshapen with swellings, one eye closed beneath an inflamed lid, the other seeming to stare straight back at her in wordless rage.
‘Can you be more specific about the beating?’
‘She suffered a powerful blow to the side of her head with some hard object, resulting in a fatal cerebral bleed. Her nose was broken, her cheek bones smashed. Her arms and shoulders suffered severe bruising probably from the same blunt instrument, or there may have been a series of impacts if she was thrown around, perhaps in the back of a van, or even dragged downstairs, before she died.’
He pointed to the woman’s shoulders.
‘So it was the blow to the head that killed her?’ Geraldine asked after a brief silence.
‘Her skull was fractured by a severe blow. Cause of death was cerebral bleeding but the shock might just as easily have killed her anyway in her weakened state. She was severely dehydrated and her stomach was empty. There was nothing in the duodenum or the intestinal tract, in other words she hadn’t eaten anything for at least two or three days before she died. She was absolutely filthy, and soiled herself several times before she died.’
He heaved a deep sigh.
‘So young.’
‘Was she raped?’
‘There’s no sign of any violent sexual encounter although she had recently been sexually active, and she had an abortion some years ago when she must have been quite young, possibly underage. She wasn’t raped, but it looks as though she was chained to a bed before she was battered to death.’
‘When did she die?’
‘I can’t say for certain. She was left outside during the night but had already been dead for at least twenty-four hours before that. The plastic bin bag offered some insulation of course, but we don’t know the conditions she was kept in before last night.’
He pointed at the greenish tinge that spread across the dead woman’s abdomen up to her chest and down her upper thighs.
‘Discoloration has spread but there’s no blistering. I’d say she’s been dead for two or three days, maybe longer.’
‘Can’t you be more specific?’
He shook his head.
‘I could hazard a guess at three days, but without knowing the circumstances under which the body was stored, and the temperature it was kept at, I can’t give you an exact time of death.’
He turned back to the body.
‘She wasn’t wearing any shoes but the skin underneath her feet isn’t scratched or torn so it doesn’t appear that she walked anywhere barefoot. It looks as though her killer removed her shoes. And her finger, of course, which was sliced off with a small razor sharp saw.’
Geraldine frowned impatiently.
‘This was presumably a personal attack, but until we know who she was that line of enquiry remains closed to us.’
‘Why not just kill her at once and be done with it? Why torment the poor girl like that?’ Sam asked, unable to hide her frustration. ‘It doesn’t make sense to tie her up then starve and beat her if he was going to kill her
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