Page 35 of Rage

He eyes me a moment longer, then returns his attention to the body. “As you can see,” he says, “the decedent was dismembered. The dismemberment was performed postmortem. The cutting was primitive. We’ll know more after the autopsy.”

A hundred questions badgered me during the drive here. As I stare down at the pieces of Samuel Yutzy, every cogent thought rushes from my brain.

“Do you have any idea of the time of death?” I manage.

“Preliminarily, thirty-six hours, give or take,” Doc replies. “As you know, we can usually calculate a TOD estimate by using the body temp.” Doc looks at his assistant. “Jared, what was the liver temp?”

The young man swipes through several pages of his iPad. “Seventy-four point seven.”

The doc nods. “In this case, the body had reached ambient temperature, which is the soil temp. Warmer than average due to the heat wave. But the body temperature and the postmortem loss of heat also depend on the size of the body mass. In this case, because the body was dismembered, cooling likely happened more quickly, skewing any typical TOD estimate. Still, there are other ways to calculate an estimated TOD. For example”—he touches the knee joint of the right leg, which is still intact—“rigor sets in at about two hours, usually in the face area first, and is released after about thirty-six hours. When I examined the joints—namely the larger knee joints—there was a small degree of rigor present.

“Additionally,” the doc continues, “there was very little insect activity, mainly because the body was buried and protected from fly larvae. There was little in the way of decomp. The odor that was detectable at the scene was likely from blood that had spilled onto the soil and baked in the sun, and, of course, there were bodily excretions.”

I nod, anxious for him to move on. “Do you have any idea what kind of cutting tool was used?”

Dr. Matrone takes it from there. “I examined several of the bones that were cut and/or severed, Chief Burkholder. One of the largest bones I looked at was the anatomical right femur shaft.” She indicates one of the thighs. “The initial cut through the bone was nearer the proximal end of the shaft. It was a primitive cut that was undertaken with a crude tool. Under magnification, evidence of serration or possibly sawteeth is visible.”

“So the killer may have used a large serrated knife? Or a saw?”

She grimaces. “In addition to a chain saw. One cut was made by a chain saw. There were at least three distinctive tools used.”

“So there could have been more than one individual doing the cutting?”

It’s an impossible question to answer at this point, but Dr. Matrone is game. “That would be my guess. I’ll take a closer look during autopsy. It’s a long shot, but we may be able to pinpoint some minute difference in the cutting technique that may tell us how many individuals participated in the dismemberment.”

I think about what the act of dismembering a human body entails and feel a rush of gooseflesh, the sweat on my back going cold. “Do you think the perpetrator had any kind of medical training?” I ask. “Veterinary training? Anything like that?”

“In my estimation, the person who dismembered this victim had no measurable skill set. The cuts were made in odd areas. For example, in an area where the bone was thickest, which would make for a more difficult or laborious cut. I would also venture to say that the person who did the cutting had no idea where the joints were located or how to cut through them.”

“What about cause of death?” I’m looking at Doc Coblentz when I ask the question. I see the answer in his eyes even before he speaks.

“Upon examination of the abdomen and skull, we were able to identify two penetrating wounds.”

He goes to the head first, which has been placed on a headblock in a supine position. Using a swab, he indicates a small, red-black hole at the hairline just behind the left ear.

“Looks like a gunshot wound,” I say.

“That is my opinion.”

“We missed it at the scene.”

“Not surprising,” he says. “The projectile entered at the mastoid process of the temporal bone. You missed it because it’s within the hairline and bleeding was minimal.”

“Is there an exit wound?” I ask.

“There is.” Using both hands, Doc shifts the head so that the other side is visible. “The missile penetrated the skull and exited through the squamous part of the temporal bone.”

The detached head is such a horror to behold, it’s difficult to see it from a scientific perspective. I do my best. “So the bullet basically went through and through.”

Doc nods. “We’ll know more, of course, when we get a look inside the cranium. But the CT scan revealed lanes of opaque bone and missile fragments through the cerebral parenchyma all along the course of the missile, which basically allowed us to see the track.”

I think about that a moment. “So there are likely fragments still at the scene where the murder took place.”

“That would be my guess.”

I make a mental note to get another metal detector out there. “You mentioned two gunshot wounds.”

I’m relieved when he covers the head with the sheet. He sidles back to the abdomen and, using a fresh swab, indicates a small hole. “Single penetrating wound to the upper left quadrant.”