The Delta Chain Read Online Free PDF Page B

fit an ocean drowning,’ Adam said.
    ‘No. Now, having said that, it could be that the fists are the result of a medical condition, known as abnormal posturing. By that, I mean forming fists or forming something like an arched back, any positioning known to be brought on by medical trauma like a stroke or a brain haemorrhage.’
    ‘There’s no evidence of such trauma?’
    ‘Nothing conclusive, but I can’t completely rule it out at this stage because such posturing could result without any medical stimulus. It’s been witnessed, for a variety of reasons, in near-drowning victims, though in actual drowned corpses there would be very few, if any, examples.’
    ‘Okay. So, abnormal posturing aside, what we may have here is a girl being held down in shallow water and beating her fists against an attacker.’
    ‘Possible, but still unlikely. A drowning person, held down in a near horizontal position, couldn’t put much force behind such blows. Even if they did, punching an attacker isn’t going to cause contusions like these.’
    ‘They’d have to have been smashed against something harder.’
    ‘Much harder.’
    ‘Like the side of a pool or a bathtub?’ Adam said.
    ‘Yes. But if we theorise that the girl was drowned by an attacker, then she would’ve been hitting out at that attacker, not striking out elsewhere.’
    ‘True.’ They stood silently for several moments.
    Markham’s P.A., a plain but bubbly middle-aged woman named Maureen Gates, popped her head through the doorway.
    ‘Mornin’ all. Any takers for coffee?’
    ‘Morning, Maureen,’ said Markham. ‘And yes, please.’ He gave Adam a questioning glance.
    ‘For me as well.’
    Maureen cocked her thumb and forefinger into a pistol shape and aimed it at Adam. ‘White with one if I remember correctly.’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Marvellous woman,’ Markham said after she’d left. ‘Always switched on, don’t know how she does it. Mind you, it’s not a bad thing around a place like this.’
    Adam nodded his agreement. He turned his attention once more to the autopsy. ‘Lashing out at a hard surface suggests the girl might have been trapped. A well or a cave?’
    ‘In which case I’d expect weeds or dirt or tiny particles of rock under her nails.’
    ‘Okay, but putting that aside a moment, she could’ve drowned somewhere else and then been dumped at sea.’
    ‘It’s an option. If so, I’d suspect the victim drowned in something other than saltwater. The concentration of chloride in the bloodstream would be a lot lower. But as putrefaction of the corpse has begun, I can’t determine that.’
    ‘The chemistry of the blood changes.’ Adam released a sigh of frustration.
    ‘I ran an FBC anyhow. Curiosity’s sake. The chloride level had increased, the sure sign of a saltwater drowning. However, the chemistry of the blood changes once a body has been submerged ...’
    ‘We can’t draw definite conclusions from the blood?’
    ‘Frustrating, but no…’
    Adam returned a pained but accepting expression. ‘You mentioned needle marks. Drug use?’
    ‘Or a medical condition requiring blood transfusions. There’s no evidence of either from the organs, nor from the blood, but of course the blood work can’t be relied on.’
    ‘Okay, so for leads on her ID we have possible blood transfusions or drug dependence, along with fingerprints and dental matches.’
    ‘There’s nothing at all likely on the Missing lists?’ Markham pressed.
    ‘Not locally. We’ll have checked the national database by later this morning.’
    Markham shook his head with the sad observation of the professional. ‘Girl’s no more than sixteen or seventeen. Someone should’ve known she was missing almost straight away.’ He cleared his throat. ‘There’s something else.’
    ‘From the autopsy?’
    ‘No. A case much further north. Four months ago. A young woman washed ashore, naked, and still unidentified. I thought of it the moment I saw this body last