tinge to him, as well as a purple discoloration to the rounded portion of his face that looked like a huge bruise. Postmortem lividity. The flattened part of the face, on the other hand, was almost white.
“He was placed here a while after he died,” said Dr. Peters. “The face is flattened by this floor, but there is no lividity in the flattened area.”
Post-mortem lividity was the purplish color produced by pooling blood in a corpse. Gravity forces the blood to the lower points of the body. The process stops after a time, and if the body is moved to a different position after this time, there will be no liquid blood to pool in the new low spots.
“Affected by temperature, though,” said Art.
“Oh, yes,” said Dr. Peters. “Very much. But when we defrost him, if freezing interrupted the clotting process, we may well have continued liquid seepage into low spots…”
“Do you think there are two holes in the first one?” asked Art.
Dr. Peters stood again. “Can’t say, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised. I want to bag the hands.”
He reached into his kit, and pulled out a roll of transparent bags and a roll of tape. I helped him bag the hands. The first victim’s hands were easy. The second one’s required Art and me to heave the body up and onto its right shoulder, so the M.E. could get at the hands. The body was so stiff it was like tilting a statue.
Lamar asked for Art’s cell phone. He reached in his inner pocket and handed it to him. He dialed, and said, “Yeah, it’s me. Look, get Christiansen in early and have him take Fred up to the clinic and have Doc or a nurse use the gunshot residue kit on his hands. Yeah. No, he doesn’t. No. It ain’t testimonial evidence. His lawyer isn’t necessary. Yeah? Good.” He handed the phone back to Art. “Fuckin’ attorneys, I tell ya…”
“These two gentlemen,” said Dr. Peters, “are very thoroughly frozen. I suggest we leave them here until the lab team can see them, too. There’s certainly no harm in that, as long as they get here fairly soon.”
“They should be here in a couple of hours,” said Art.
“That long,” said Dr. Peters, pulling off his gloves. “Well, we have to defrost them before we can do much else … no matter. That’ll take twenty-four to thirty-six hours.”
“Damn,” I said, pretty much to myself. “That long?”
“Just about the same formula you’d use to thaw a frozen turkey before Thanksgiving.” He grinned. “Don’t worry, Carl,” he said. “I’ll X-ray the heads as soon as we get them to a machine. Most of the information you’ll need right away should be available then.
“The heads should thaw a little quicker than the rest of them, as well,” he said.
“Freezing going to affect the tissues … the tests?” asked Lamar.
“Oh, sure. But not in an appreciable fashion. Burst cell walls won’t prevent toxicology testing, for instance.” Dr. Peters smiled. He looked around. “It’s fairly obvious they weren’t killed here. Any ideas?”
I told him what I’d seen in the house.
“Very good news,” said Dr. Peters. “I’ll need to take a look inside, then.” He glanced at me. “The heat was on in there?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, excellent,” said Dr. Peters.
“Let’s hurry up,” said Art, “I’m freezing to death.”
“Next time,” said Lamar, dryly, “maybe you could wear a real coat…”
We went into the house via the kitchen door, and were very careful not to disturb any evidence. If it had just been a burglary scene, nobody would have gone in again until the lab team got there. But it was important for the homicide investigators to see the scene in the least disturbed state possible. That outweighed the lab requirements.
I walked Dr. Peters through the path I’d taken in the house. He agreed that the carpet stain could well be a bloodstain that had been cleaned up. The hole in the wall he didn’t want to speculate on, but the diameter looked about right for a
“He was placed here a while after he died,” said Dr. Peters. “The face is flattened by this floor, but there is no lividity in the flattened area.”
Post-mortem lividity was the purplish color produced by pooling blood in a corpse. Gravity forces the blood to the lower points of the body. The process stops after a time, and if the body is moved to a different position after this time, there will be no liquid blood to pool in the new low spots.
“Affected by temperature, though,” said Art.
“Oh, yes,” said Dr. Peters. “Very much. But when we defrost him, if freezing interrupted the clotting process, we may well have continued liquid seepage into low spots…”
“Do you think there are two holes in the first one?” asked Art.
Dr. Peters stood again. “Can’t say, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised. I want to bag the hands.”
He reached into his kit, and pulled out a roll of transparent bags and a roll of tape. I helped him bag the hands. The first victim’s hands were easy. The second one’s required Art and me to heave the body up and onto its right shoulder, so the M.E. could get at the hands. The body was so stiff it was like tilting a statue.
Lamar asked for Art’s cell phone. He reached in his inner pocket and handed it to him. He dialed, and said, “Yeah, it’s me. Look, get Christiansen in early and have him take Fred up to the clinic and have Doc or a nurse use the gunshot residue kit on his hands. Yeah. No, he doesn’t. No. It ain’t testimonial evidence. His lawyer isn’t necessary. Yeah? Good.” He handed the phone back to Art. “Fuckin’ attorneys, I tell ya…”
“These two gentlemen,” said Dr. Peters, “are very thoroughly frozen. I suggest we leave them here until the lab team can see them, too. There’s certainly no harm in that, as long as they get here fairly soon.”
“They should be here in a couple of hours,” said Art.
“That long,” said Dr. Peters, pulling off his gloves. “Well, we have to defrost them before we can do much else … no matter. That’ll take twenty-four to thirty-six hours.”
“Damn,” I said, pretty much to myself. “That long?”
“Just about the same formula you’d use to thaw a frozen turkey before Thanksgiving.” He grinned. “Don’t worry, Carl,” he said. “I’ll X-ray the heads as soon as we get them to a machine. Most of the information you’ll need right away should be available then.
“The heads should thaw a little quicker than the rest of them, as well,” he said.
“Freezing going to affect the tissues … the tests?” asked Lamar.
“Oh, sure. But not in an appreciable fashion. Burst cell walls won’t prevent toxicology testing, for instance.” Dr. Peters smiled. He looked around. “It’s fairly obvious they weren’t killed here. Any ideas?”
I told him what I’d seen in the house.
“Very good news,” said Dr. Peters. “I’ll need to take a look inside, then.” He glanced at me. “The heat was on in there?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, excellent,” said Dr. Peters.
“Let’s hurry up,” said Art, “I’m freezing to death.”
“Next time,” said Lamar, dryly, “maybe you could wear a real coat…”
We went into the house via the kitchen door, and were very careful not to disturb any evidence. If it had just been a burglary scene, nobody would have gone in again until the lab team got there. But it was important for the homicide investigators to see the scene in the least disturbed state possible. That outweighed the lab requirements.
I walked Dr. Peters through the path I’d taken in the house. He agreed that the carpet stain could well be a bloodstain that had been cleaned up. The hole in the wall he didn’t want to speculate on, but the diameter looked about right for a
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