canvas.’
‘There’s no doubt that he took his time,’ the doctor confirmed. ‘As I’ve said, some of the cuts were made by a very sharp instrument, but not all of them.’
She directed their attention to the lower half of the body. ‘Like most of the wounds inflicted on her legs and back.’
Hunter took a step closer to examine the wounds to her thighs. Neither detective was surprised to hear that the victim also had lacerations to her back.
‘These cuts weren’t created by a sharp instrument,’ Doctor Hove continued.
‘So what was used?’ Garcia asked.
‘A whip.’ The answer came from Hunter. He had seen similar injuries before.
‘That’s correct,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘But not the kind used for sexual play, or what have you. What was used here was a proper leather bullwhip. The kind used to tame
animals. I counted and recounted them. She received sixty lashes. But they were expertly controlled. Hard enough to break the skin and cause extreme pain, but light enough so it wouldn’t cut
too deep into her flesh and cause excessive bleeding. That would’ve no doubt driven the victim into unconsciousness too often. He didn’t want that to happen. The same level of control
was applied to the laser-sharp cuts which, by the way, also amount to sixty – hard enough to break the skin and rupture flesh to cause pain, but light enough to not cause excessive
bleeding.’ Doctor Hove lifted her finger to emphasize her next point. ‘The interesting thing here is, healing progress differs slightly from one batch of wounds to another.’
‘Batch of wounds? What do you mean, Doc?’ Garcia asked.
‘Front of the torso, back of the torso, front of the legs, back of the legs, and buttocks.’ The doctor paused, her words hanging in the air for a moment, like smoke. ‘And that
means that they were inflicted upon her at different times, most probably daily. In my opinion, she was flogged and tortured for five days, give or take a day.’
‘Was she sexually assaulted?’ Hunter asked.
‘Repeatedly. But unfortunately for us the assailant was careful enough to protect himself. I could recover no trace of semen, foreign blood, or any other bodily fluids.’
As a sign of respect, the room went silent for a moment.
Hunter walked over to where Garcia was and bent over to have a closer look at the victim’s neck.
‘I found no signs that she was either strangled or suffocated,’ the doctor added, anticipating Hunter’s question. ‘X-rays also revealed no broken bones. Toxicology will
be another day or two, and if the killer used any sort of drugs on her prior to her death we should get a result for traces of it soon enough, but we won’t get a positive result for
poisoning. That’s not how she died.’
‘So what was the cause of death, Doc?’ Garcia asked.
‘I’ll get there in a minute, Carlos,’ Doctor Hove said, paused, and called their attention to the marks on the body’s wrists, ankles and cheeks. ‘First let me show
you a peculiarity about these. These marks indicate that she was very tightly restrained, and for a considerable amount of time. Most certainly while she was being tortured and violated. The
restraint used on her wrists was some sort of thin rope. Probably nylon. Probably very easy to obtain from a multitude of stores. But I found no residues to examine, so that’s just an
educated guess.’
‘On her wrists?’ Garcia asked with a frown.
Doctor Hove nodded. ‘And that’s what I mean by peculiarity. Her captor used different restraints on her ankles – stronger, harder, thicker. From the pattern left on her ankles,
I’d say he used a metal chain.’
‘And why would he do that?’ Garcia again. ‘I mean, why two different types of restraints?’
Doctor Hove allowed her gaze to move around the room aimlessly, almost as if she was trying to pass the question on.
‘More torture,’ she finally replied. ‘The kind that won’t show externally.’
‘Whoa.’
‘There’s no doubt that he took his time,’ the doctor confirmed. ‘As I’ve said, some of the cuts were made by a very sharp instrument, but not all of them.’
She directed their attention to the lower half of the body. ‘Like most of the wounds inflicted on her legs and back.’
Hunter took a step closer to examine the wounds to her thighs. Neither detective was surprised to hear that the victim also had lacerations to her back.
‘These cuts weren’t created by a sharp instrument,’ Doctor Hove continued.
‘So what was used?’ Garcia asked.
‘A whip.’ The answer came from Hunter. He had seen similar injuries before.
‘That’s correct,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘But not the kind used for sexual play, or what have you. What was used here was a proper leather bullwhip. The kind used to tame
animals. I counted and recounted them. She received sixty lashes. But they were expertly controlled. Hard enough to break the skin and cause extreme pain, but light enough so it wouldn’t cut
too deep into her flesh and cause excessive bleeding. That would’ve no doubt driven the victim into unconsciousness too often. He didn’t want that to happen. The same level of control
was applied to the laser-sharp cuts which, by the way, also amount to sixty – hard enough to break the skin and rupture flesh to cause pain, but light enough to not cause excessive
bleeding.’ Doctor Hove lifted her finger to emphasize her next point. ‘The interesting thing here is, healing progress differs slightly from one batch of wounds to another.’
‘Batch of wounds? What do you mean, Doc?’ Garcia asked.
‘Front of the torso, back of the torso, front of the legs, back of the legs, and buttocks.’ The doctor paused, her words hanging in the air for a moment, like smoke. ‘And that
means that they were inflicted upon her at different times, most probably daily. In my opinion, she was flogged and tortured for five days, give or take a day.’
‘Was she sexually assaulted?’ Hunter asked.
‘Repeatedly. But unfortunately for us the assailant was careful enough to protect himself. I could recover no trace of semen, foreign blood, or any other bodily fluids.’
As a sign of respect, the room went silent for a moment.
Hunter walked over to where Garcia was and bent over to have a closer look at the victim’s neck.
‘I found no signs that she was either strangled or suffocated,’ the doctor added, anticipating Hunter’s question. ‘X-rays also revealed no broken bones. Toxicology will
be another day or two, and if the killer used any sort of drugs on her prior to her death we should get a result for traces of it soon enough, but we won’t get a positive result for
poisoning. That’s not how she died.’
‘So what was the cause of death, Doc?’ Garcia asked.
‘I’ll get there in a minute, Carlos,’ Doctor Hove said, paused, and called their attention to the marks on the body’s wrists, ankles and cheeks. ‘First let me show
you a peculiarity about these. These marks indicate that she was very tightly restrained, and for a considerable amount of time. Most certainly while she was being tortured and violated. The
restraint used on her wrists was some sort of thin rope. Probably nylon. Probably very easy to obtain from a multitude of stores. But I found no residues to examine, so that’s just an
educated guess.’
‘On her wrists?’ Garcia asked with a frown.
Doctor Hove nodded. ‘And that’s what I mean by peculiarity. Her captor used different restraints on her ankles – stronger, harder, thicker. From the pattern left on her ankles,
I’d say he used a metal chain.’
‘And why would he do that?’ Garcia again. ‘I mean, why two different types of restraints?’
Doctor Hove allowed her gaze to move around the room aimlessly, almost as if she was trying to pass the question on.
‘More torture,’ she finally replied. ‘The kind that won’t show externally.’
‘Whoa.’
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