Next of Kin Read Online Free PDF

resigned to the notion that there would be little to go on.
    He sat on the chair in front of the woman’s desk, watching the activity in the room. Pictures were being snapped from all angles; surfaces were being dusted with dark gray fingerprint
powder; items were being catalogued for the evidence locker. In the middle of the room, Doc Murphy, the coroner, was performing his initial examination of Elizabeth Connor’s remains. He
leaned over her with a clinical precision that approached indifference, his tall, thin frame curled into a Dickensian stoop as he slid around the body, instructing his assistant where to snap
images.
    ‘What do you think, Doc?’ Long asked as Murphy worked.
    ‘Well, she’s dead.’
    ‘You’re good. I can see why you’re in charge. Any thoughts about how long?’
    ‘Have to run some tests. At least forty-eight hours. That takes us back to Tuesday morning. Could’ve been Monday night. Probably was.’
    ‘Cause of death as obvious as it seems?’ Long asked.
    Murphy shrugged. ‘I assume. Looks like the lethal blow was a single whack to the head. I’ve been doing this for too long to put my reputation on the line until I’ve done the
full exam. There are too many things her body may want to tell us.’ He shifted position, examining her fingers. ‘From the way her head bled out I can tell you that she was alive when
she was hit. Poker’s lying there with blood stains on it; looks like the head wound is consistent with the shape and heft of the poker. You draw your own conclusions. What’s interesting
are the other wounds.’
    ‘Other wounds?’ Long said.
    Murphy lifted up the back of the woman’s shirt so that Long could see the dead woman’s back. It was covered with cuts and marks. ‘You see these?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘They look like they were made after she went down from the blow to the head. I count thirty in all, and from the look of them, some were made after she had bled out enough that she had to
be dead. Look here.’ He pointed to a few long cuts. ‘No blood came out. Deep, violent slashes, but no blood. Whoever did this was still hitting the body in a rage minutes after she was
already dead.’
    Long frowned. ‘Drug rage, you figure?’ Long asked.
    ‘Could be,’ Murphy said. ‘It’s some sort of psychosis, that’s for sure. No other reason to keep hitting the body that way.’
    ‘When she was hit in the head, the first blow, was she facing her killer, or was she hit from behind?’ Long asked.
    ‘No way to tell at this point. Probably no way to tell ever.’
    ‘You kidding? They figure out stuff like that on television all the time.’
    ‘Yeah, I know,’ Murphy conceded with a sigh. ‘Those TV coroners are good. Maybe we should call one of them in, see if they’d be any help here. Unfortunately, she was
struck on the side of the head. I may be able to tell a little more from the angle once I measure it, but it’s not going to be conclusive. She could’ve been turning, she could’ve
been ducking; there’s really no way to tell. Does it matter?’
    Long shook his head. ‘No, probably not. Just curious.’
    Murphy stood up and looked at his assistant. ‘Bag her,’ he said. ‘We’ll do the rest back at the morgue.’ He looked at Long carefully. Long reached into his pocket
without thinking, drew out a piece of gum and put it in his mouth. ‘I’ll let you know if we find anything else,’ the coroner said. ‘But I wouldn’t hold my breath if I
was you. It’s probably exactly what it looks like.’
    ‘Yeah,’ Long said.
    ‘She got any family?’
    ‘Not that we’ve identified yet. Neighbors don’t know of any.’ He gestured to the mess on the floor. ‘I still gotta go through her mail; maybe we’ll learn
something from that.’
    ‘I hope she didn’t have family,’ Murphy said. ‘Something this random . . .’ he shook his head. ‘Tough for a family to take. How are you doing?’
    ‘I didn’t know her.’
    ‘No, not about