| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Yucky, yucky, yucky |
| Date: | Fri, 17 May 1996 19:34:32 +0100 |
Okay, here's the scoop. Body was found at 0640 in Green Park, by a guy
out jogging. She was partly clothed, laid out near a children's
playground. Weird stuff drawn on the ground in what turned out to be her
blood. Here, file and pictures.
"So we maybe get a semen sample?"
Nope. Looks like intercourse took place, but we found spermicide traces.
He wore a rubber.
"Even the rapists are practicing safe sex these days...these symbols are
interesting. Can I copy this?"
That's a duplicate, keep it. Body temperature suggested she'd been dead
about four to eight hours, depends whether she was killed there or not.
No rigor mortis when found. My guess is nearer four ours, she'd lain
there long enough to be soaked in dew and that would cool her pretty
quick.
"You think she wasn't killed there?"
Hard to say. The intercourse probably didn't occur there - no abrasions
on her buttocks, no asphalt chips in her clothes - but maybe she was
already dead.
"He raped a corpse, huh? Nice guy."
Well, there's the other thing. We're presuming rape, but she's got no
bruising, no ligature marks, and the only torn clothes were her panties.
Don't your boyfriends ever rip your underthingies off?
"Nope. Had a girlfriend who liked to, though."
Oh, yeah, I forgot about your preferences, Quinn. What got interesting
was these symbols and these mutilations to the hands and feet.
"Skinwalker killing. Or meant to be."
That's what Lone Star are chasing. It's the best lead we got: it seems
we got a mad Amerind out there, another Muffin Man maybe, which is why-
"Except why is the writing in Arabic?"
What?
"That writing... where the hell is that damn chip... it says 'Follow the
Star' in Arabic. Someone's yanking your chain. Continue, anyway."
Yeah, right, kick my train of thought right off the rails. I don't have
a cause of death, either. The hands and feet, the slashes to the limbs
and the cut to the throat were all postmortem. Close postmortem, but the
histamine levels say she was dead when they happened. Plus she was lying
in about a pint of her own blood. If he killed her elsewhere, brougbt
the body out, then dressed up the scene, that's what we'd see if she was
lying as you see her, dead, when he made the cuts. If she'd been alive
when he did that to her throat, we'd have about three, four pints of
blood on the ground, and a clear spray pattern.
"Yummy. Any abnormalities on the autopsy?"
Nope. She was a little overweight, had implants in each breast that had
been there awhile - used to be a 34B, went to a 36C - cheap cybereyes,
signs of minor cosmetic work on her nose, ears and teeth, and had nasal
lesions consistent with recreational cocaine usage. She wasn't high when
she died, though. Lungs okay, she breathed filtered air most of her
life, and there's a little clag in her coronaries: she had enough money
for real meat, and all the cholesterol that goes with it. Just very
ordinary, nothing unusual.
"How about magically?"
Why do you think I called you? Frobisher's off sick and Stands-Bravely
is on educational leave finishing her degree. That leaves Fuentes and I
wouldn't let him investigate his own ass, let alone one of my bodies.
"Okay, lemme see..."
<pause>
"Well, she's dead."
No shit, Quinn, I did an autopsy on her. She might have been breathing
before, but after I scooped all her guts out and stuck her in the
freezer she stopped moving for good.
"Yeah, yeah. She's been dead what, twelve hours?"
About that, yes.
"Well, she wasn't scared when she died. Pretty happy, in fact. Maybe a
little surprised, maybe I'm imagining that. And she wasn't killed with a
spell that I can see. Oh, the killers a cold sonofabitch. I see more of
you from her than him, and you just did an exam and postmortem, he laid
her and killed her. Or he killed her and had sex with the body. Either
way, I'd expect *something*, but nope, he didn't seem to care. I just
get this mild disgust."
Great, a cold-hearted psycho. Anything else?
"Yeah, take a look at the back of her neck, it looks funny."
What, astrally?
"Yeah. Up a bit, inside the hairline."
Give me those scissors and that bag, okay?...
<snipping sounds>
Whoa. Guess we got a cause of death.
"Cyberspur?"
Or a very narrow-bladed knife, but my money's on a spur. Through the
nape of the neck into the brain. Death would be nearly instant, but
almost no bleeding. Well, I guess that's it. Thanks, Quinn.
"What do you mean, that's it? Come on, Jerry. Who was she? You left all
that out of the file."
Lone Star are on it, Quinn, stay out.
"Won't."
Yes, you will, or I'll report you.
"You wouldn't. Anyway, the cops are already barking up the wrong tree.
I'll be good, I won't get in the way, I'll just look around a little,
okay?"
Okay, okay, her name was Jennifer Pearson and her address is in the
book, okay?
"Thanks, Jerry. Trust me."
When you say that, insurance premiums go up. Get out of here. And keep
me informed.
+++++end transcript]<<<<<
-- Personal Log <19:32:42/05-17-57>
