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