“Good so far,” Gorski murmured. “Keep going.”
“She instinctively kicked back, probably caught him in the face, and that’s how the pillow there got a blood spatter on it.” Ashton pointed. “Note the angle of the spray, pointing to the location of the source. Chances are, she smashed his nose with her heel. If it wasn’t broken already, it would be by then.”
“Good...”
“He shook his head to clear it, sending more blood spatters from his nose and possibly the back of his head and hair, then jumped up, leaping over the coffee table and getting in front of her, fending her off with the chair from the back; he could keep her from running for help, or into the bedroom and locking the door, that way.” Ashton paused, thinking. “She may have turned to run around the other end of the couch at that point. Then he shoved the chair aside and came after her before she could. Oh! I meant to ask; did she have any blood on her knuckles?”
“She did,” Gorski confirmed. “The forensic doctor noted that, and her knuckles were bruised, but the skin wasn’t broken. And yes, he took samples of the blood for analysis.”
“So she punched him in the busted nose,” Ashton said with a wolfish grin. “Good for her! But that’s what made him good and mad, so he shoved her down, probably with the intent to pin her and rape her at that point...when she kicked upward. If it was deliberate intent combined with her body being off-balance as she started to fall, then her foot...maybe her knee, but if she was falling, probably foot or shin...clobbered him in the family jewels pretty hard. In turn, she hit her head on the broken table leg and it rendered her unconscious.” Ashton shook his head, wincing despite himself. “That wouldn’t do any favors for her skull or brain, I’d think. Anyway, the scalp laceration from the broken table leg created that puddle.” He pointed to the second congealing blood pool. “But we already know that she wasn’t actually penetrated. He was in too much pain from the head blow, the broken nose, and the kick in the crotch to finish his intended job, so he left...probably walking funny.”
“And based on this scenario, what should we do, and what should we look for?”
“We get in situ imagery, then grab samples of all the blood stains for the lab, both coffee mugs for DNA, and look for any latents on the mugs and the front door, as well as on the tabletops. Also any hair – pubic or head – on the armchair and possibly the couch.” Ashton, who had been studying the crime scene intently, now looked up at Gorski. “And we need to contact the hospitals, looking for a man of around average height – judging by the location of the coffee table to the pool of blood his head left – with a probable concussion and skull laceration, probable broken nose but certainly a couple of black eyes and facial bruising, with nosebleed, scratches somewhere on his body, and severe bruising to the family jewels.”
“Why didn’t she call for help in VR?”
“She was probably surprised by his attack, and once it started happening, she was just reacting, trying to get away.” He shrugged. “That’s how most people tend to react in a threat emergency sitch. They only make the emergency call after they have a chance to think.”
“Damn, son, you’re gonna be a hell of a detective,” Gorski said with a grin. “Now, do you know how to take those samples?”
“Not yet, sir. I mean, we did them in the forensics labs at the academy, and I’ve watched you do a few things, but in the field, my own self? No. This is my first opportunity to actually do it.”
“Then let me talk you through it...”
In short order, the in situ imagery was taken, several latent prints found and lifted, the coffee mugs were bagged, samples of the coffee taken, blood samples were taken of both pools and each spatter grouping, and several dark hairs – that did not match the victim’s medium auburn hair – were bagged as well. One of the beat cops who had been guarding the door was promptly dispatched with the evidence to the ICPD forensics lab for analysis, along with a control sample from the victim’s hairbrush in the bathroom, in order to separate out the victim’s DNA from her assailant’s.
“And now we need to put out the hospital inquiry,” Gorski noted. “Nick, come with me into VR – we’ll use channel 842 – and I’ll show you how that’s done...”
They contacted all of the hospitals within easy walking distance of the crime scene; since there had been no reports of a bloody, battered man wandering around the Imperial Park area, let alone walking oddly, the two investigators surmised that he likely went straight to medical help, and didn’t go far to get it.
On the third contact, they hit paydirt.
Dirk Leeds had been admitted to the Empress Adannaya III Hospital two hours before their inquiry. He was diagnosed with a badly broken nose, a three-inch gash in his scalp, severe
