Deliver Us from Evil Read Online Free PDF Page A

her body was relocated post-mortem.
    â€˜Back again please, Eric . . .’ And once more the body of the deceased was turned skilfully and with minimum effort on to its back. Without being bidden Eric Filey readjusted the towel to cover the genitals of the deceased.
    â€˜Rigor was established and was subsequently broken by myself in the presence of Mr Filey. There is no indication of tissue decay. Time of death has to be determined but will likely be within twenty-four hours of the present which is . . .’ she glanced at the clock on the wall of the laboratory, ‘Eleven twenty-seven a.m. There are ligature marks to the neck of the deceased, fully encircling it, which seem to be twinned. That is to say, two distinct lines of bruising encircle the neck . . . such bruising being consistent with a rope or similar, such as a length of electricity cable being coiled twice or doubled around the neck and then tightened.’ Dr D’Acre lifted the eyelids of the deceased and continued. ‘Petechial haemorrhaging is noted . . . small dark spots in the whites of the eyes . . . which is fully consistent with death by strangulation.’ Dr D’Acre then closely examined the wrists of the deceased and then the ankles. ‘Both wrists and both ankles show clear signs of bruising indicating that the deceased was restrained peri-mortem.’ Dr D’Acre then examined the fingernails of the deceased and then looked at Hennessey. ‘Bad luck.’
    â€˜Bad luck, ma’am? In what way?’
    â€˜No defence wounds, no split fingernails caused by fighting off her attacker, or attackers, so no useful flesh and blood samples for you . . . sorry.’
    â€˜No matter,’ Hennessey inclined his head to one side, ‘such material would have been useful but I am confident that we’ll get there without them.’
    â€˜I’m sure you will. I’ll scrape anyway, of course, but I do not expect to find anything of interest. It will be a somewhat futile gesture but I’ll do it.’
    â€˜Yes, ma’am.’
    â€˜There are no other injuries in evidence so let us look in the mouth. The mouth is a veritable gold mine of information. Here rigor is still established. Eric, can you please pass . . .’ Dr D’Acre allowed her voice to trail off as Eric Filey, anticipating her request, handed her a length of stainless steel. ‘Give me a place to stand and I will move the world . . .’ she said as she accepted the lever. She worked the lever into the mouth and then determinedly prised the mouth open and so causing the jaw socket to ‘give’ with a loud ‘crack’. ‘So useful being a pathologist,’ she said as she handed the lever back to Eric Filey who immediately placed it in a tray of disinfectant. ‘We are the only doctors whose patients do not feel pain.’
    It was a joke that Hennessey had heard her make many times before but he chuckled anyway. It was, he believed, the diplomatic thing to do, the only response to make.
    â€˜She has a reasonably good set of teeth . . . some decay . . . certainly western dental work but which looks a little different to British dentistry and so could be Canadian. She seemed to care for her teeth only adequately. She didn’t floss, there is a build-up of plaque . . . she seems to have had a sort of “five out of ten, could do better” attitude towards her teeth. You know,’ Dr D’Acre straightened up, ‘I once conducted a PM on a young woman in her mid twenties . . . tragically young to come here . . . everybody comes here before their time but mid twenties, that really is being short-changed. She was a Russian girl and I kid you not she had a perfect set of teeth, caused by the bland, sugar-free eastern European diet she had lived on, you see. I do so worry when I see my