Read Online The Ambassador's Wife by Jake Needham - Free Book Online

to mid-forties. My guess is that she’s probably an American. I can’t be certain, of course, but both her dental work and the polish on her finger and toenails are consistent with an American origin. On the other hand, perhaps she’s French but gets her dental work done in the US and wears American nail polish.”
    “That sounds pretty unlikely to me.”
    “As it does to me.”
    Dr. Hoi glanced down at her file again.
    “From the temperature of the deceased, and taking into account the setting of the air conditioning in the room where she was found, my best guess is that the time of death was between eighteen and twenty hours prior to the discovery of the body.”
    “That means she was killed…” Tay paused to calculate, “between five and seven Monday evening.”
    Dr. Hoi nodded in acknowledgment of Tay’s mathematical acumen.
    “Fingernail scrapings produced no organic matter and the body was relatively unmarked, except of course for the destruction of the face. There were, however, marks on her wrists and ankles that in my view are consistent with restraints having been placed on her in some fashion. At first I thought that might suggest the deceased had engaged in sadomasochistic sexual activity.”
    Dr. Hoi glanced at Tay and in embarrassment he flicked his eyes to the blank wall just over her shoulder.
    “On the other hand there was no evidence of recent intercourse, certainly no semen in the vagina, the anus, or the mouth. Of course, that’s not conclusive. The vagina was badly mutilated by the flashlight and I can’t be absolutely certain no penetration occurred, but the anus was intact and I saw no signs of penetration there. And, of course, her attacker might have used a condom.”
    Dr. Hoi glanced at Tay again, but he was studying the wall with intense concentration.
    “There’s also something else to keep in mind,” she went on when Tay wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Sadomasochism frequently doesn’t entail intercourse, at least not in the usual sense, so we can’t rule out the possibility of sexual activity based purely on the lack of any evidence of intercourse. She had been restrained, that we can say for certain, but the killer may have snapped the handcuffs around both her wrists and ankles simply for the purpose of killing her, not because they were engaged in some form of sexual activity.”
    “Handcuffs?”
    “Yes, definitely handcuffs. My guess is they were the plastic disposal type.”
    “You mean like police cuffs?”
    This time Dr. Hoi’s response came after a short but perceptible pause.
    “Yes,” she said. “Quite similar or even possibly identical to police cuffs.”
    A silence fell as Tay processed what he was hearing. Somewhere in the distance some sort of machinery whirred to life emitting a low-pitched humming sound.
    “I gather you’re aware of the cause of death?” Dr. Hoi asked after a few moments had passed in silence.
    “I assume it must have been the beating.”
    “Certainly not. The woman was shot.”
    Tay’s mouth dropped open.
    “She was shot with a .22 caliber hollow point,” Dr. Hoi continued, “fired from a revolver with its muzzle placed in contact with her right ear.”
    She made a little gun with her thumb and forefinger and then reached up and placed her forefinger into her ear.
    “One shot,” she said. “Like this. Straight into the ear. Bam!”
    It took Tay a moment to regain the power of speech, but when he did the words spilled out involuntarily.
    “You’re shittin’ me.”
    Dr. Hoi couldn’t suppress a smile. “No, Inspector, I shit thee not. This was why I wanted you to come over and look at the deceased yourself. Very unusual thing to see here in Singapore. Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”
    “I’m sure.” Tay’s mouth was dry and he tried unsuccessfully to swallow. “Thank you.”
    “Pity. As I said, very unusual thing.”
    Dr. Hoi pursed her lips as if she was trying hard to recall something, although what it