Deadly Communion

Bordeaux.

‘Well?’ Rheinhardt asked.

‘Nothing,’ replied the professor. ‘A hint of ammonia, perhaps, but nothing else.’

He dropped the undergarment on a trolley and turned his attention to the corpse.

‘I was told she was found in the Volksgarten?’

‘By the Theseus Temple — behind a row of bushes.’

‘No papers?’

‘None.’

Mathias brushed his knuckles against the woman’s cheek.

‘Death, you horror of nature, Ever-moving runs your clock: The scythe, when swung, glistens, And grass and blade and flower fall. Well, Rheinhardt? Do you recognise it?’

‘I’m afraid not.’

‘To Death,’ said Haussmann, doubtfully. ‘By Christian Schubart.’

Rheinhardt looked at Haussmann and then to Professor Mathias for confirmation.

‘Yes,’ said Professor Mathias. ‘Your assistant is correct.’

‘Well done, Haussmann,’ said Rheinhardt.

The young man smiled.

Professor Mathias continued in a declamatory fashion: ‘Mow not on without distinction, here this little flower just abloom, There that rose, just half red. Oh, be merciful, oh, death!’ He shook his head. ‘So young … and there is something rather aristocratic about her expression, don’t you think?’

Rheinhardt remained silent. He did not really share Mathias’s opinion.

The professor rearranged a lock of the dead woman’s hair and addressed her directly: ‘You will excuse me, madam.’ Shuffling back to the foot of the autopsy table, Mathias removed her boots and stockings. The woman had painted her toenails purple and Mathias drew this to Rheinhardt’s attention. Then he raised her dress, folding the cloth back onto her abdomen and thus revealing a delta of chestnut curls. He extended his right hand, parted the labia majora — employing his fingers like the blades of a speculum — and peered into her vagina. He then began to feel the dress material that lay directly beneath the woman’s perineum. He dragged more material out from beneath her buttocks, and hunched over the table to examine it more closely. Subsequently, he picked up a pair of scissors from his trolley and cut out a small square of material which he rubbed between his thumb and forefinger before waving it under his nose.

Rheinhardt found the spectacle of the gnomish old pathologist engaged in such intimate study quite obscene.

‘Well,’ said Mathias. ‘She certainly received a man. But I don’t see any signs of ravishment. The dress isn’t torn — no contusions, no signs of chafing or bleeding. Would you and your assistant be so kind as to remove her coat, inspector?’

Rheinhardt and Haussmann pulled the coat off the woman’s shoulders and tugged it downwards. Once her arms were free it was relatively easy to complete the task. Mathias returned with an extra-large pair of scissors and cut a straight line up the front of her dress, from hem to collar. Using a sharp hunting knife, he then slashed through the laces of the woman’s corset. The heavy canvas fell away, releasing her breasts.

‘Gentlemen — your assistance again, please. Would you raise her slightly?’ Mathias removed the clothing and put it on the trolley along with the red cotton drawers.

The three men stared at the naked body in silence. They did not look at each other, fearing that they might betray their thoughts. The woman was perfectly proportioned: delicate ankles, shapely calves, and hips that converged on a slim waist. Beneath the harsh electric light, the vivid contours of her body were strangely alluring. Rheinhardt closed his eyes and felt his cheeks become radiant with shame. The twist of her lip, he fancied, was no longer cruel but judgemental.

‘May I smoke, professor?’ Rheinhardt asked.

‘Yes, inspector, of course.’

Rheinhardt took the box of cigars he had purchased on the way to the morgue from his pocket.

‘Trabuco, Haussmann?’

‘No, thank you, sir.’

His assistant’s stare was fixed on the woman’s exposed sex.

Rheinhardt lit his cigar. The familiar aroma was comforting, a timely reminder that he also had another, more agreeable life, one that awaited his return. He was already looking forward to his armchair and the sound of his eldest daughter Therese picking out the notes of a Mozart piano sonata.

Professor Mathias selected a magnifying glass and circled the table, inspecting the woman’s skin.

‘There are no rashes around the neck or abdomen, no signs of cynosis and no punctures.’ He raised his head. ‘Young man, could you help me to turn her over?’

The woman was heavier than Haussmann had expected and he grunted as he heaved her onto her side. He tried to complete the manoeuvre by rolling her forward slowly, but he lost control and her breasts made an unpleasant smack as they fell heavily onto the polished granite.

‘Now,’ said Professor Mathias, ‘let’s straighten her up.’

Haussmann released a trapped arm while Professor Mathias parted the woman’s legs. The pathologist continued to examine the woman’s skin, occasionally pausing to press and probe with his fingers. When he had finished he drew back.

‘Once again, nothing abnormal.’

‘Then how did she die?’ Rheinhardt asked.

‘I don’t know. I’ll have to open her up. We can already exclude strangulation, stabbing, shooting, injection, and the ingestion of some — but not all — poisons.’

‘What about suffocation?’

‘She would have struggled.’

‘Perhaps she did.’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Why?’

‘Look how well manicured her fingernails are, not one of them broken. A woman thrashing around — doing her utmost to escape suffocation — wouldn’t have nails in such excellent condition, inspector.’

‘Do you think she died naturally?’

‘It is certainly a possibility and, at this early stage, quite a strong one. You look doubtful, inspector.’

Rheinhardt flicked the ash from his cigar into an empty bucket and wrinkled his nose.

‘Odd way to die, don’t you think? In such very peculiar circumstances.’

‘She looks healthy but you never can tell and she wouldn’t be the first to die in such an undignified position. As for her lover — or client, more like — perhaps a married man with children, responsibilities and reputation — such a man would be reluctant to report the matter to the police. As soon as he realised his predicament, he would have made a swift — er — withdrawal.’ Mathias looked to Haussmann. ‘Young man, we must turn the body again.’

Haussmann reached over the table, choosing to haul the dead woman over from the opposite side. He had barely completed the movement when he suddenly pulled back, startled, and uttered a cry of disgust. The body remained face down.

‘Come now,’ said the professor. ‘Don’t be squeamish.’

Haussmann stared at the corpse, his eyes wide with alarm.

‘I felt something.’

‘What do you mean?’ said the professor, slightly irritated. ‘Felt something?’

‘I felt something hard, sticking out of the back of her head. Underneath her hair.’

Mathias put the magnifying glass down on the table and pulled the woman’s tangled tresses aside. His actions revealed a metallic object that gleamed brightly under the fierce electric light. Rheinhardt dropped his cigar in the bucket and moved closer to the table.

It was a silver acorn, nestled neatly into the arched indentation where the skull and the back of the neck joined. Professor Mathias reached out and plucked at the object.