The Art of Murder Read Online Free PDF Page B

outer tissue of the brain almost to its centre.
    ‘It was a fine needle, but a long one,’ Jones said. ‘Sank in at least fifteen centimetres. Passed through the cerebellum and on into the centre of the brain, coming to restclose to the thalamus. Would have killed him pretty quickly – massive haemorrhage. As you can see, here.’
    Pendragon had never become accustomed to the offhand delivery style of pathologists, especially this one. But he had learned soon after meeting Jones that if he were to work with him, he would just have to blank out the man’s seemingly ice-cold professionalism. Jones had mocked him for his squeamishness when they had worked together on their first case. After that, the DCI had developed a thicker skin.
    ‘All right. Any thoughts on the hole?’ he queried.
    Jones returned the brain and closed the cranium. Then he ran the end of the scalpel around the inside of the opening in Berrick’s head. ‘It’s a neat job. The hole is 12.1 centimetres in diameter, a fraction larger than a CD. It’s more ragged at the back than the front, which implies to me that the killer used some sort of heavy-duty punch to smash out the centre of the hole. The head must have been clamped meanwhile. Look here, at the temples. Rectangular impressions in the shallow flesh. No bruising, which indicates it was clamped post-mortem.’
    ‘Yes, but surely something so heavy-handed would have shattered Berrick’s skull completely?’
    ‘I thought precisely the same thing. But I learned two interesting things about the method our killer used. First, I found a few tiny specks of metal around the rim.’ Jones walked over to a counter parallel to the dissection table. Returning, he held up a pair of microscope slides sandwiched together. With the light behind the pieces of glass, Pendragon could just make out a few particles of silvery material.
    ‘This actually confused me even more for a time,’ the pathologist went on. ‘But then, as I was cleaning up the inside of the hole, I noticed a few dots of liquid oozing from the skin. Most of the interior of the hole here …’ and he pointed to the opening ‘… has been cauterised. But a few bits have been missed. I tested the liquid.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘I was surprised to find it was hydrofluoric acid.’
    ‘That’s incredibly corrosive, isn’t it?’
    ‘You can say that again, Pendragon. But it makes sense.’
    ‘Why. How was it used?’
    ‘I’m not sure, of course, but the best scenario I can draw is that the killer placed a metal cylinder over Berrick’s dead face and poured in the acid.’ Jones placed his hands in a circle over the dead man’s facial area to illustrate. ‘This softened up the tissue, and, more importantly, made the bones of the face and skull malleable. This then enabled them to smash the hole through without shattering all the bones around the face. The hydrofluoric acid I found had leached out of the skin where the cauterising had not caught the flesh properly.’
    ‘Good Lord!’ Pendragon exclaimed, shaking his head.
    ‘After making a crude hole, the killer would have tidied it up. There are a few marks … here and here.’ Jones tapped the scalpel on the inside of the hole. Marks from a blade. The final task was to cauterise the opening.’
    Pendragon felt a shiver of disgust pass through him.
    ‘One very dispassionate murderer,’ Jones added unnecessarily.
    The DCI simply nodded. ‘I can barely imagine whatsort of person we’re dealing with here.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Any more accurate estimate for time of death?’
    ‘Can’t be precise, of course, but I would say most likely between one and two this morning. It’s impossible to be sure how soon after death the mutilation was performed.’
    Pendragon was about to ask another question when his mobile rang. He pulled it from his pocket, recognised the number on the screen. ‘Dr Newman,’ he answered cheerfully.
    ‘Chief Inspector. We’re just finishing up at the