Page 65 of Silent Scream

‘Conversely, an obese person will decay faster because of the large amounts of flesh available to feed micro-organisms and maggots.’

‘Fabulous, now is there anything you can tell us that will actually help?’

The Doctor threw his head back and roared with laughter. ‘I’ll say one thing for you, Detective, you’re consistent.’

Kim said nothing and just waited while he put on a pair of simple black-framed glasses.

‘We have two fractured metatarsals on the left foot. An injury more consistent with playing football, but this was not an old injury. No fusion of the bones had occurred.’

‘Could it be from kicking something?’ Bryant asked.

‘It could be, but a normal person would kick with their right foot, unless they had been trained to use both feet equally.’

He moved up the table closer to the head.

‘I’ve already shown you the fracture in the cervical vertebrae so we know that the victim was beheaded at some stage. It was a savage attack and the blow that severed the bone was not the first.’

He took a magnifying glass. ‘If you look at C1 and C2 you’ll see what I mean.’

Kim leaned down beside him. There was a visible ridge in the bone of C1.

‘Do you see?’

Kim nodded, noting the smell of mint on his breath.

‘Here, hold this,’ he said, passing her the magnifier.

He gently turned the body slightly so that the bones of the neck were sideways on. ‘Now look at C2.’

He held the body in place while she lowered the glass over the top area of the neck bones closest to the skull. Again she saw a clear ridge.

Kim stepped back as a sick feeling began to build in her stomach. ‘But the injury you showed me yesterday was not on the side of the neck.’

The Doctor nodded and for just a second their gaze held in understanding.

‘I don’t get it,’ Bryant said, leaning over the table for a closer look.

‘She was alive,’ Kim murmured. ‘She was moving around when he was trying to take her head off.’

‘Sick bastard,’ Bryant exhaled, shaking his head.

‘Could the injury to the foot have been caused by being stamped on, to render the victim less mobile?’

That would explain why the victim was writhing on the ground but unable to get away.

‘That would seem to be a logical conclusion.’

‘Be careful you don’t commit there, Doc.’

‘I can’t confirm that theory, Detective, in the absence of any soft tissue but I can state that I have not identified any other obvious cause of death.’

‘How long has she been down there?’

‘As little as five years, possibly as many as twelve.’

Kim rolled her eyes.

‘Look, if I could give you a day, month and year I would but decomposition is affected by many variables; heat, soil content, age, illness, infection. Like yourself I would like to find everybody with a photograph, full medical history, a passport and recent utility bill but unfortunately this is what we’ve got.’