Free Web NovelChapter 14: Chapter 14 - The Body
The apartment was on the 24th floor of the towering block in Fisher Park, a middle-class neighborhood in Northern Part of City C.
The apartment number he was looking at was 2418, located halfway down the corridor on the right-hand side. A uniformed officer was standing outside the door. He looked bored.
Vincent flashed his Detective’s card at him and pushed the door open.
"You can stay here you know." He said to Dawnstar who was covering her mouth in advance.
She shook her head.
Vincent nodded and turned to the door, the first thing he noticed was the safety chain hung from the door, its wall mounting dangling from the chain’s end. The doorframe had cracked and spattered where the four screws had once secured the mental mounting to the wood.
"We have to kick it open." A senior officer standing in the living room explained.
Vincent turned and looked at him.
"I am Officer Leo." The policeman said.
"My partner and I were patrolling around this area when we received a call from the central intelligence division to dispatch us to check the welfare of the victim. Her mother, who was taking care of her granddaughter, had been unable to touch her for three days. The mother said she always dropped the child when she was busy or meeting with a lover. This afternoon, the mother was worried sick. The daughter is bipolar as well, which can sometimes complicate things."
Vincent frowned, listening to the explanation.
"Anyway." Officer Leo moved on. "We came by and knocked but there was no response. We called the building’s supervisor to unlock the door for us but the safety chain was on. And there was a faint putrid smell coming from the inside. Obviously, something was wrong. That was when we rammed in and broke the door. We found the victim in the bedroom."
He then stared at the bedroom, pulling ’I’m sorry’ face.
"Has she attempt the suicide before?" Vincent asked.
"If she had, it wasn’t mentioned."
Vincent nodded and allowed his eyes to circle around the living room for an instant. It was spacious, decorated with a budget but it had plenty of style.
A black leather sofa faced the shiny black and white TV module. There was a chest of drawers matching the TV module, a very elegant bookshelves with no books, just decorative artifacts like vases.
Crossing the other side of the room, Vincent slipped into a pair of blue latex gloves and facemask.
"I changed my mind." Dawnstar said. "I will stay here."
"Sure, just don’t touch anything."
He entered the bedroom. Officer Leo followed him.
The air inside the bedroom was hot, stuffy and heavy with the sickening smell of the dead flesh as it entered the rotting stage. Vincent had to push everything he ate from coming out. freёweɓnovel.com
Vincent turned his attention into the queen-size bed with its hardboard pushed up against the north wall. Lying on the blood-soaked bed sheet was a naked body of a five feet- six inches brunette woman.
From the paper Detective Jason handed him, Vincent knew that she was only thirty-five years old. Her name was Emma Flison, and she was a self-employed interior designer. She also did Logos as well.
A medical Examiner was standing by the dresser, quietly speaking to the cellphone. He quickly hung up the phone when he noticed Vincent and the officer entered the room.
"Are you from Homicide?" He asked, looking a bit wary.
Vincent nodded and quickly introduced himself. The doctor looked surprised but refrained himself from asking the detective how old he was.
Vincent approached the bed, careful of the large pool of dried blood that had formed on the floor. The curtains on the window of the left side of the bed were splattered with blood and so were both beside the table.
Vincent took note of the blood pattern before his attention reverted back to the woman.
He swallowed the urge to puke and carefully examined the woman. Her skin had taken on the greenish-blue color but body bloating was still at the early stage.
That and together with the small amount of blow flies buzzing around the bed told Vincent that she had been dead for at least thirty-six hours.
She was lying on her back. Her legs were closed together and stretched out. Her arms were wide open as if she was ready to hug. But, both of her wrists had been cut horizontally. freewebnoveℓ.com
Two large and deep incisions that had clearly severed the main blood vessels.
"From the look of the blood, you can tell that she had been dead for no less than thirty-six and no more than seventy-two. We’ll get a better time frame after the autopsy." The doctor said with a sigh.
Vincent stared at the body and asked,"what did she use on her wrists?"
"This." The doctor showed him a plastic bag. Inside, it was a blood covered utility knife. "It was on the floor of the right side of the bed." He specified the location.
Vincent went and bent down to get a better look at the woman’s hands, wrists and arms. "She had been photographed right?" He asked.
"It is fine, if I touch the body right?"
The doctor shrugged. "My job here is pretty much done, suit yourself."
Vincent used his fingers to clear some of the dried blood from the wrists and took the time to examine the cut.
"The cuts were deep and precise." The doctor offered his opinions. "Even before the autopsy, I can tell you that she had served both major veins. Blood loss was intense and fast. Over 50 percent I should say."
Staring at the dried pool of blood, the doctor continued. "Which would send her into hypovolemic shock, leading up to heart failure."
"Was there a suicide note?" Vincent asked.
"None that we have found." Officer Leo answered.
Vincent found this strange but carried on studying the woman’s hands and fingers. He even studied her toes.
The doctor walked over to the woman and said seriously. "Now, let me show you something interesting."
He took out a small flashlight and used his fingers to open the eyes. "Have a look at this."
Vincent moved closer. Officer Leo followed.
Her corneas were cloudy which was expected but the eyes, the lids were dotted with tiny red specks.
Vincent frowned. "Petechiae." He said, revealing the knowledge he consumed.
"Pete...? What?" Officer Leo asked.
The doctor was impressed. He wasn’t expecting the young detective to recognize the condition he was looking at.
"Petechiae." The doctor said, "They are hemorrhages in blood vessels. They can occur anywhere in the body for a number of reasons. But when they occur like this, it is usually due to blockage of the respiratory system. In other words, suffocation."
Vincent stood up and started looking around the room.
"What?" The officer’s eyes moved from the doctor to Vincent and then back to the doctor. "But you said she died of blood loss and severe heart failure. Are you telling me she was strangled?"
"Nothing changed, Officer Leo." Vincent said, looking inside the brand new shoe boxes of both her and her child.
"So what are you saying?" Officer Leo asked.
"Someone else knock her out by straggling before slicing her wrists and staged the suicide scene." He said, standing up.
"This was a Homicide." Vincent declared.
The officer’s eyes widened. "Homicide? But the only way to lock the safety chain was to do it from the inside. The windows in here can’t open due to safety regulations. This is 24 floors, way too windy. If somebody killed her, how did he or she get out?"
"That is the part I still need to figure out." Vincent sighed.
"Of course, you do." Officer Leo rolled his eyes.
Vincent knew what he was thinking. Why did they have to send the rookie to this case?
But Officer Leo wasn’t done yet. " You are bashing this homicide theory of yours simply because of that pate...or something. Maybe it’s a sexual thing. I know some freaks like to choke themselves in bed. Look, I know you are trying to impress the captain with your skill but I don’t think this is the case, sir."
Vincent knew that he didn’t have to explain himself to anyone in this room. He was the lead detective of this investigation and that gave him the right to call the shots. But since this was his first case, he felt like he needed to explain his reasons for the sake of clarity.
