“Under what circumstances would a surgeon normally make an incision like that, Ben?” Calvin asked.
“In my experience, incisions like this are most often seen in trauma cases, where the site of the internal injuries is unclear and immediate access is required to the whole abdominal cavity.”
In addition to the main midline incision, there were three transverse incisions, each differing in length and depth. These were measured and photographed. As with the other incisions, a ruler was used to demonstrate the angle of the blade’s entry.
“I think,” Claxton said, and Dillon was unsure if he was addressing them or merely thinking out loud, “that the blighter made these transverse incisions for his own convenience so that he could peel her skin back and make it easier for himself to rummage around inside.”
“Why would he want to do that?” Dillon asked, knowing that he was not going to like the answer.
“Well, I should be able to confirm what he was looking for when I start cutting her open, but even at this early stage I can see that our killer has cut out sections of her upper and lower intestines.”
“Good God,” Dillon said, starting to feel sick. “Why would anyone do that?”
“My dear Inspector,” Claxton said, looking up from the corpse, and reminding Dillon of Peter Cushing’s maniacal portrayal of Victor Frankenstein in the Hammer Horror films, “while I can tell you what he did, from a pathological point of view, I’m afraid I’m as baffled as you are as to why anyone would ever want or need to do something like this.”
As the examination continued, the pathologist formed the opinion that the girl was already dead by the time these incisions were made, and he highlighted a lack of blood loss and an absence of bruising as supporting indicators.
Claxton commentated on the loops of bowel that were sticking out, speculating that the killer had deliberately arranged them like that for effect; he could offer no other logical explanation. He asked if the missing intestinal segments had been found at the scene, and was told that they had not.
“There are elasticised marks around her waist but I note she wasn’t wearing underwear. Was this recovered at the scene?”
Sam Calvin shook his head.” No. It remains unaccounted for.”
“So, he’s a trophy taker?” Claxton asked, raising an eyebrow.
Calvin nodded. “It certainly looks that way.”
Claxton found traces of nylon in the pubic area, and these were carefully removed, bagged and exhibited. If her underwear was ever recovered, ideally in the killer’s possession, fibre comparisons would be carried out.Her pubic hair was then combed and swabbed for semen.
The pathologistpeered down at Tracey’s exposed genitals and winced.“There’s probably no point in taking vaginal swabs, but we’ll do them anyway, just for the sake of being thorough. Even without opening her up I can see that a large and very sharp instrument has been forcibly inserted into her vagina. There is severe bruising around her crotch, and her inner thighs have been flayed as the blade was repeatedly rammed in with considerable force. When I open her up, the internal damage will be catastrophic.”
Claxton decided to examine her limbs next, pausing to ask for a magnifying glass when he reached Tracey’s forearms. “This is interesting,” Claxton said, waving for Dillon to come over. “I’ve found track marks on her arms, which is hardly surprising considering her lifestyle, but there are also what I believe are faint handcuff marks on both wrists. Had she been arrested recently?”
“Yes. They had her in for fraud or something yesterday. She was only released from custody a few hours before she died,” Dillon said.
“Ah that probably explains it then,” Claxton said, losing interest.
“Actually,” Dillon said, taking a step closer despite the revulsion he felt inside. “I’ve read the custody sheet. She wasn’t handcuffed when she was arrested. Whoever did that to her, it wasn’t the police.”
“Maybe she wore them during a kinky sex session with a client before the killer got to her?” Emma suggested.
“I don’t think so,” Dillon said. “This was a girl who had rough sex on street corners to fund an all-consuming drug habit. She wasn’t into anything as refined as games.”
“Which means the killer must have handcuffed her when he abducted her,” Copeland said, stating the obvious.
“Perhaps,” Claxton allowed, “but I don’t understand why the marks aren’t more pronounced. If you apply handcuffs tight enough to stop someone from wiggling free, they leave defined marks. If a person in handcuffs struggled, say to resist being kidnapped, it would result in chaffing or bruising; a serious struggle would have caused them to bite deep into the skin, even if they were double locked. These marks are so faint that they are hardly visible; you have to really look to find them. It is almost as if the handcuffs were heavily padded.”
“Why would a killer who viciously mutilates his victim pad the cuffs? He’s hardly going to worry about her bruising her wrists,” Dillon said.
“Maybe what he was worried about was leaving telltale marks,” Claxton surmised.
“You mean he didn’t want us to know that he had used handcuffs?” Dillon said.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Claxton confirmed.
“It’s an interesting supposition,” Dillon admitted, “but it’s very bizarre.”
Claxton examined her arms and hands for defence wounds, and then took nail clippings and scrapings, starting with the right hand and then moving on to the left. “Well, well, look what we have here,” he said, holding the fingers of her left hand out for the others to see. Calvin, Emma, and Copeland all crowded in for a closer look. Dillon stayed where he was.
“There’s some debris under her nails,” Claxton told them,
