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Post by Jordanna on Aug 28, 2007 22:05:13 GMT -5
Sid grimaced. "Maybe that 'splains the coat. Rizzo--or whoever did her in--didn't wanna look at those."
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Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 22:15:26 GMT -5
Daws scowled. "Wouldn't be the first I've heard of something like that."
Her expression turned thoughtful. "Hey, speaking of the coat . . ." She reached into the inner pocket of her trenchcoat and withdrew the business card Sid had discovered the previous night. "Specialist. A lotta times these days that's code for Mutational Specialist." Daws turned the card over in her fingers. "I wonder if this was hers."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 28, 2007 22:23:09 GMT -5
Henry frowned. "Why would Rizzo have had the card in the pocket of his coat, then?"
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Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 22:28:51 GMT -5
Daws shook her head. "Maybe she put it there before she died. Or maybe it's unrelated." She shrugged and slipped the card back into her pocket. "Not enough evidence to really build on -- not yet, anyway."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 28, 2007 22:38:01 GMT -5
Miriam had been carefully examining the stunted wings with her fingers, and now she looked up with a shake of her head. "I don't find any broken bones. A lot of mutants killed in hate crimes are... disfigured, but apparently her killer didn't feel that kind of anti-mutant passion. That doesn't mean it isn't why they killed her--but it is interesting."
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Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 22:44:43 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Maybe they just figured they'd skip the preliminaries." She said blackly.
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 28, 2007 22:58:52 GMT -5
"Well... I guess we'd better get down to it." Miriam glanced at Henry. "Let's turn her over again."
After the corpse was again lying more or less on its back, Miriam picked up a scalpel and a sample vial, and proceeded to examine the fingers.
"You can still see the nail polish that matches her dress," she said somberly, then shook her head. "Daws, we can try to see if any skin left on her fingertips still has a usable fingerprint, but I doubt it. I'll also see if there's anything under her nails--but I guess a DNA match on a killer who's probably long dead isn't very likely, either."
She winced as she gingerly began to separate the withered and clawlike fingers of one hand. "I really hope I can do this without her going to pieces on me."
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Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 23:04:18 GMT -5
Daws sighed. "I don't suppose a DNA match with her is any more likely, either -- unless the P.D. has something in one of the cold case files or something."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 29, 2007 20:57:09 GMT -5
Miriam worked quietly and efficiently, collecting scrapings from beneath the fingernails, and various samples of what little tissue was left. Each vial was carefully labeled and set aside.
At length she sighed. "Well, I don't suppose I can put off the real work of the autopsy any longer. Actually... I almost hate the idea of cutting up that dress." She nodded to her subject's red satin garment. With the coat out of the way, the finely sequined and embroidered details of the bodice could now be fully admired. In its day, the dress would not have been cheap.
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Post by skybright on Aug 29, 2007 21:28:18 GMT -5
"It does seem like kind of a shame." Daws shrugged regretfully, "But there's no way around it, right?"
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 29, 2007 21:51:12 GMT -5
"Unfortunately not... and under the circumstances, it wouldn't be any good, anyway." With a rueful shrug, Miriam picked up the scissors again and cut away the dress, attempting to make as few cuts as possible.
"Here's the dress label," she said, handing Daws an emroidered tag of fabric. "It probably doesn't mean anything, but you never know in this business."
She glanced around at the group. "Well, this is where I start looking at our friend here from the inside. I'd tell you this is your chance to bow out, but I don't think any of you are squeamish--and there won't be much of a mess with this poor girl, anyway."
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Post by skybright on Aug 29, 2007 22:00:00 GMT -5
Daws shook her head. "I'd rather be here for it anyway." She said, glancing down at the body. "It's better to see things firsthand." She shrugged sadly. "Figure I owe her the best job I can do."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 29, 2007 22:13:15 GMT -5
The pathologist nodded. Then she gazed down at the body, in silence offering up the quick prayer that had always preceded her autopsies in the medical examiner's office.
She began with an external examination.
"I can't see any tattoos or obvious scars," she announced after several minutes. "At least not on the skin that's left here. Hmm. I think..." She carefully probed the neck of the corpse. "Yep, feels like some damage to the vertebrae in the neck. I expected that, with the hanging. But it may not tell us whether her neck was broken by the noose, or if she... choked."
"She could even a' been shot or shivved, an' it might not show anymore, huh?" Sid asked.
"Well, if she was shot, I'd expect to find a bullet--you didn't find one in the wall of your basement, I take it."
Sid shook his head, and Miriam nodded.
"But if she was stabbed, then yes--it might be hard to tell. Unless the knife left any marks on her bones."
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Post by skybright on Aug 29, 2007 22:21:00 GMT -5
"We didn't find any obvious bloodstains at the Paragon, either." Daws remarked, "But that doesn't mean much. No doubt Rizzo would've known how to clean up after something like that."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 29, 2007 22:31:44 GMT -5
"He didn't bother cleanin' up that broken bottle a' hooch," Sid pointed out.
Miriam frowned, her gloved fingers gently inspecting the skull of her subject. "I wish it hadn't been broken. It feels like she was hit on the head with something--would have been nice to compare it with the impression I feel here."
"Then she might have been knocked out before she was hanged?" Henry asked.
"Maybe... I hope so." Miriam winced, then sighed. "I almost wish I could see what she went through. I always feel so blind when I can't."
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Post by skybright on Aug 29, 2007 22:41:30 GMT -5
Daws frowned. "What're the odds that the blow could have been what killed her?"
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 29, 2007 22:50:51 GMT -5
Miriam bit her lip and shook her head. "I can tell you more when I look more closely at the skull, but... offhand, I doubt it. What I'm seeing here isn't that serious--much more of a dent than a smash." She grimaced. "And if she'd already been dead from head trauma, there wouldn't have been any reason to hang her."
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Post by skybright on Aug 29, 2007 22:57:40 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Same could theoretically hold true for any other cause of death, I suppose." She mused quietly, "Unless someone just had a macabre sense of theatrics."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 29, 2007 23:17:10 GMT -5
"I don't even want to imagine that." Miriam sighed, picking up a scalpel. "Well... it's time to have a look at what's left of her organs. There won't be much for you to see for a while."
Miriam proceeded with her grim task, working for several minutes with only a few quiet observations. At last, somewhat abruptly, she fell silent, her expression becoming more intent.
Then she drew back rather quickly, with a soft exclamation. She blinked several times, and her eyes were misty as she awkwardly rubbed them with her sleeve.
"Whatsamatter?" Sid asked anxiously, rising from his chair.
The pathologist sniffed slightly, and gave her friends a sad glance.
"This woman was going to be a mother."
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Post by skybright on Aug 29, 2007 23:27:09 GMT -5
Daws' eyes widened, and she almost unconsciously crossed herself as she glanced at the corpse. "Did . . . would she have known, do you think?" She asked sadly.
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