some element of coercion — nearly 500mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. No normal person could be drinking at those levels without passing out. But there was no evidence of force in the usual places.’
‘Usual places?’
‘Specifically the arms and the mouth. If someone were wanting to force-feed alcohol to a person, normal practice would be to restrain their arms and head before forcing the bottle or glass into the mouth. It’s very difficult to do and would require multiple assailants.’
‘But-’
‘But that usually results in cuts and bruising around the gums and mouth, sometimes chipped teeth. Obviously his mouth is not in tip-top shape but there’s no sign of such trauma. Coercion would also present distinctive bruising on the arms and neck.’
‘But there’s none of that.’
‘The body has the extensive bruising common to chronic alcoholics; some marks are old, some new — but nothing to indicate restraint.’
‘Couldn’t the alcohol have been injected?’ asked Noble.
‘Fresh needle-marks often take longer to present,’ said Habib. ‘We’ll re-examine in a few days to be sure, but it’s extremely unlikely because it’s far too inefficient as a delivery system for that much alcohol.’
‘Do we know what he was drinking?’
‘Given the absence of the stomach, liver and kidneys it’s difficult to be precise until we do more tests. We will need to slice and dice what’s left of the brain for a more detailed analysis of toxins to be absolutely certain. The absence of blood. .’
‘Absence of blood,’ repeated Noble.
‘There’s no clean blood. There was a little in the heart valves but that was clotted, and it would be contaminated. We’ve got enough for a blood group. And tissue samples should tell us. .’
‘What do you mean there’s no clean blood?’ asked Brook.
‘Oh, forgive me, I thought you knew. This gentleman has undergone some form of post-mortem procedure and is in the first stages of being embalmed.’ He walked them back to the body on its stainless-steel table. ‘As well as removing all the organs, he was drained of blood. You see these two puncture wounds in the neck? They tapped into his major arteries. It’s a common enough procedure for funeral homes. It stops discolouration of the flesh.’
‘So we don’t have a vampire at large,’ quipped Noble.
Habib chortled. ‘I’m afraid not.’ The diminutive doctor placed a thumb and finger on either side of the cadaver’s neck. ‘These incisions have been made by a surgical instrument so tubes can be attached. Draining the body of blood would require time and patience and preferably a tank to store the blood.’
Brook nodded. ‘So whoever did this might have access to specialist equipment.’
‘Well, it’s not essential, Inspector. Those preserving bodies in the Ancient World didn’t have any. But these days, as well as a large tank to contain the blood, he might also use a pump to help the blood drain. Otherwise things could get a bit messy.’
‘Not something that an amateur can do in his bedroom then,’ muttered Noble.
‘Absolutely not,’ answered Habib. ‘And strictly speaking he’s not an amateur. Whoever performed this procedure possesses a fair amount of anatomical knowledge.’ He indicated the large opening on the dead man’s flank. The stitching had been removed and, without thinking, Habib pulled the wound open so they could see inside. Noble looked at the ceiling while Brook pursed his lips. ‘This incision in his side was made to remove the internal organs and it’s quite a skill.’
‘Why remove the organs?’ asked Noble.
‘Well, unless he’s making a large haggis,’ sniggered Habib, releasing the flaps of flesh on either side of the wound, ‘the usual reason is to hinder microbial growth and decomposition. And it is common practice in hospital mortuaries for examination purposes, unless there are religious objections.’
‘Just hospitals?’ asked Noble.
‘There are scientific facilities that use cadavers, medical schools, that sort of thing — they have skilled technicians for such procedures. It’s about preservation and, of course, reserving the organs for whatever procedures they might be undertaking.’
Dr Petty walked over to them, removing her face mask and cap. She had short blond hair with tinted highlights. Brook noticed Noble looking at her for longer than necessary.
‘Speaking of undertaking. .’ she said to Habib.
‘Yes. Undertakers and funeral directors would be more likely in this case.’
‘Because it’s not clinical,’ said Brook, nodding. ‘But cosmetic.’
Petty smiled at him. ‘Right. Someone has very carefully, almost lovingly, begun the process of preserving his body. If he came to us as a suspicious or unexplained death,’ she nodded towards the spread-eagled chest cavity, ‘we observe the basics of our profession. We open them up completely for ease of access. It’s not pretty but it gets the job done. Equally, if we need to see the brain, we use a skull key and a saw to take off the top of the head. The only reason to remove the organs through this small incision seems to be cosmetic.’
‘To leave the torso unblemished.’ Brook nodded.
‘And this kind of cosmetic consideration is most likely to be found in the funeral service,’ said Habib. ‘Those gentlemen, and ladies perhaps,’ he added with a simper at Dr Petty, ‘are charged with bringing the dead back to life, at least while the coffin is open to relatives.’
‘That would explain the haircut and shave,’ said Brook.
‘We noticed that,’ said Dr Petty. ‘And did you see the fingernails have been scraped and clipped too. Also the body was washed, with an antibacterial agent, possibly alcohol. It’s difficult to tell after the body was in the water.’
‘Maybe why he was dumped in the river,’ observed Noble.
‘More than likely.’ Petty nodded.
‘I hate to bring it up, but is there any sexual angle here?’ asked Brook.
‘There’s no sign of any sexual activity, forced or otherwise,’ answered Petty.
‘And could the deceased have been through here already and been misplaced?’ asked Noble.
‘Indeed not,’ said Habib sternly. ‘We don’t lose corpses — our procedures are too thorough. And if we had processed him he would have been cut open from the thorax, as you see.’
‘What about the scientific organisations that use dead bodies?’ asked Brook.
‘I can’t speak as to their procedures, Inspector,’ replied Habib. ‘But they’d only accept intact bodies. And they’d also open up the chest in the traditional manner.’
‘So he hasn’t been seen by any agency that does official autopsies or post mortems,’ concluded Noble, scribbling in his notebook.
‘We don’t think so,’ said Petty. ‘Besides, any doctor attending this man could certify COD. But I’m guessing a doctor hasn’t seen him or issued a Death Certificate. Being homeless, it’s also unlikely the deceased has given informed consent for his body to be left to science.’
‘And without consent, a medical school couldn’t have his remains,’ said Brook.
‘Exactly. In the absence of next-of-kin, he would be routinely interred,’ said Petty.
‘So his death is completely off the books until now.’
‘It would seem so.’
Brook rubbed his chin. ‘So if the internal organs were removed. .’
Habib nodded in encouragement. ‘The intestines too.’
‘. . the intestines too,’ echoed Brook. ‘How did you manage to get blood from the heart?’
Habib grinned. ‘The heart was put back.’
‘Put back?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Why?’
‘No idea.’
‘You mean, whoever did this took out the organs and intestines but left the heart in,’ suggested Noble.
‘No,’ said Dr Petty. ‘The heart was severed from the arteries and removed with everything else, but some time later it was put back. There were even a couple of rough stitches attaching it to other tissue, presumably to
