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Authors: Peter Robinson
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bone and organs. And, possibly, clues.
The painted cornflower blooming on her dead cheek looked even more incongruous in this harsh steel and porcelain environment. Chadwick found himself wondering, not for the first time, whether it had been painted by the girl herself, by a friend or by her killer. And if the latter, what was its significance?
Dr. O’Neill had carefully removed the bloody dress, after matching the holes in the material to the wounds, and set it aside with the sleeping bag for further forensic testing. So far they had discovered that the sleeping bag was a cheap, popular brand sold mainly through Woolworths.
The doctor bent over the pale, naked body to examine the stab wounds. There were five in all, he noted, and one had been so hard and gone so deep that it had bruised the surrounding skin. If the hilt of the knife had caused the bruising, as Dr. O’Neill believed it had, they were dealing with a single-edged, four-inch blade. A very thin, stiletto-type blade, too, allowing that it was a bit bigger than the actual wounds, owing to the elasticity of the skin. One strong possibility, he suggested, wasa flick knife. They were illegal in Britain but easy enough to pick up on the continent.
Judging by the angles of the wounds, Dr. O’Neill concluded that the victim had been stabbed by a strong, left-handed person standing behind her. The complete lack of defence wounds on her hands indicated that she had been so taken by surprise that she had either died or gone into shock before she knew what was happening.
“She may not have seen her killer, then,” said Chadwick, “unless it was someone she knew well enough to let that close?”
“I can’t speculate on that. You can see as well as I can, though, that there appear to be no other injuries to the surface of the body apart from that light bruising on the neck, which tells me someone held her in a stranglehold with his right arm while he stabbed her with his left. We’ll be testing for drugs, too, of course–it’s possible she was slipped something that immobilized her: Nembutal, Iuinol, something like that. But she was standing when she was stabbed–the angles tell us that much–so she must have been conscious.”
Chadwick looked down at the body. Dr. O’Neill was right. Apart from the faint discoloration on her neck and the mess around her left breast, she was in almost pristine condition: no cuts, no rope burns, nothing.
“Was he taller than her?” Chadwick asked.
“Yes, judging by the shape and position of the bruises and the angle of the cuts, I’d estimate by a good six inches. She was five foot four, which makes him at least five foot ten.”
“Would you say the bruising indicates a struggle?”
“Not necessarily. As you can see, it’s fairly mild. He could simply have had his arm loosely around her neck, then tightened it when he stabbed her. It probably all happened so quickly he didn’t need to restrain her. We already know there are nodefensive wounds to the hands, which indicates she was taken by surprise. If that’s the case, she would have slumped as she died, and his arm could have caused the bruising then.”
“I thought bodies didn’t bruise after death.”
“This would have been the moment before death, or at the moment of death.” Dr. O’Neill turned his attention to the golden hair between the girl’s legs, and Chadwick felt himself tense. So like Yvonne’s when he had seen her naked that time by accident at the caravan. How embarrassed they had both felt.
“Again,” said Dr. O’Neill, “we’ll have to do swabs and further tests, but there doesn’t appear to be any sign of sexual activity. There’s no bruising around the vaginal areas or the anus.”
“So you’re saying she wasn’t raped, she didn’t have sex?”
“I’m not committing myself to anything yet,” said Dr. O’Neill sharply. “Not until I’ve done an internal examination and the samples have been analyzed. All I’m
The painted cornflower blooming on her dead cheek looked even more incongruous in this harsh steel and porcelain environment. Chadwick found himself wondering, not for the first time, whether it had been painted by the girl herself, by a friend or by her killer. And if the latter, what was its significance?
Dr. O’Neill had carefully removed the bloody dress, after matching the holes in the material to the wounds, and set it aside with the sleeping bag for further forensic testing. So far they had discovered that the sleeping bag was a cheap, popular brand sold mainly through Woolworths.
The doctor bent over the pale, naked body to examine the stab wounds. There were five in all, he noted, and one had been so hard and gone so deep that it had bruised the surrounding skin. If the hilt of the knife had caused the bruising, as Dr. O’Neill believed it had, they were dealing with a single-edged, four-inch blade. A very thin, stiletto-type blade, too, allowing that it was a bit bigger than the actual wounds, owing to the elasticity of the skin. One strong possibility, he suggested, wasa flick knife. They were illegal in Britain but easy enough to pick up on the continent.
Judging by the angles of the wounds, Dr. O’Neill concluded that the victim had been stabbed by a strong, left-handed person standing behind her. The complete lack of defence wounds on her hands indicated that she had been so taken by surprise that she had either died or gone into shock before she knew what was happening.
“She may not have seen her killer, then,” said Chadwick, “unless it was someone she knew well enough to let that close?”
“I can’t speculate on that. You can see as well as I can, though, that there appear to be no other injuries to the surface of the body apart from that light bruising on the neck, which tells me someone held her in a stranglehold with his right arm while he stabbed her with his left. We’ll be testing for drugs, too, of course–it’s possible she was slipped something that immobilized her: Nembutal, Iuinol, something like that. But she was standing when she was stabbed–the angles tell us that much–so she must have been conscious.”
Chadwick looked down at the body. Dr. O’Neill was right. Apart from the faint discoloration on her neck and the mess around her left breast, she was in almost pristine condition: no cuts, no rope burns, nothing.
“Was he taller than her?” Chadwick asked.
“Yes, judging by the shape and position of the bruises and the angle of the cuts, I’d estimate by a good six inches. She was five foot four, which makes him at least five foot ten.”
“Would you say the bruising indicates a struggle?”
“Not necessarily. As you can see, it’s fairly mild. He could simply have had his arm loosely around her neck, then tightened it when he stabbed her. It probably all happened so quickly he didn’t need to restrain her. We already know there are nodefensive wounds to the hands, which indicates she was taken by surprise. If that’s the case, she would have slumped as she died, and his arm could have caused the bruising then.”
“I thought bodies didn’t bruise after death.”
“This would have been the moment before death, or at the moment of death.” Dr. O’Neill turned his attention to the golden hair between the girl’s legs, and Chadwick felt himself tense. So like Yvonne’s when he had seen her naked that time by accident at the caravan. How embarrassed they had both felt.
“Again,” said Dr. O’Neill, “we’ll have to do swabs and further tests, but there doesn’t appear to be any sign of sexual activity. There’s no bruising around the vaginal areas or the anus.”
“So you’re saying she wasn’t raped, she didn’t have sex?”
“I’m not committing myself to anything yet,” said Dr. O’Neill sharply. “Not until I’ve done an internal examination and the samples have been analyzed. All I’m
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