Doors Without Numbers by C.D. Neill Page A

died as a result of the attack.”
    The sheet covering Robert’s body was pulled back to his waist. Hammond drew in a breath slowly, reminding himself to breathe through the mouth whilst he was there. The body he had seen in the woods had been lying face down. Now the chest and upper body were exposed, he could see that Roberts had not died peacefully and said so, wondering how a beaten corpse could not act as evidence of an attack.
    “He had myocardial ischaemic heart disease, or to put it in layman’s terms, reduced blood supply to the heart muscle. His coronary arteries had significant fat rich deposits, so much so, that I found a tear in a vessel wall. I doubt it was as a result of any direct trauma, a blood clot had already formed. There is no doubt that he would have suffered symptoms of unstable angina. In short, the question I have to answer, by looking at his injuries is to establish whether he would have died had the physical assault not taken place.”
    “Was he on medication?”
    “I am awaiting blood screening results. Either way, any medication would not have cleared his furred arteries, it would only have controlled his cholesterol levels and blood sugars, reduced the rate of occurrence and severity of his angina attacks. I doubt that any medication he would have taken for the angina would have accounted for such an aggressive trigger as the assault.”
    Henderson paused whilst he looked pointedly at the clock on the wall above the door. He sighed heavily giving the impression he had better things to do with his time than talk to Hammond and continued pointing with a gloved finger at various points on the corpse lying before them.
    “Definite upper body trauma caused by a blunt instrument. I found wood splinters on his clothing so it is likely he was struck by a heavy piece of wood. The extensive subcutaneous damage confirms he took a beating. The internal organs took the force of the attack, there were multiple fractures on the lower left ribs mainly concentrated at the front but the x-rays showed hairline fractures toward the back of the ribcage. There are multiple lacerations to the forearms. Again, the left side has incurred more damage. The spleen was ruptured, probably from the blows to the ribs and abdomen. His heart had continued beating after the attack, hence the blood loss we found at the scene.”
    Hammond studied the body in front of him and waited for the pathologist to continue. It was obvious that Dr Henderson enjoyed being the source of important information. He wasn’t particularly tall, probably no more than five foot eight, but within his own domain, he walked with a straight back and long strides.
    “The semen trace found on his palm has yet to be confirmed as being his own but I found no foreign hair around the genitals. It appears he relieved himself of sexual tension whilst he was in the woods.” Henderson shrugged with one shoulder “We all have our fetishes I suppose.”
    Speak for yourself, an inner voice in Hammond replied to Henderson’s quip. He pointed towards the legs of the dead victim and enquired with a raised eyebrow if there was anything to report on the lower body. Henderson lifted the sheet off the legs and continued debriefing Hammond with his findings.
    “There were several abrasions and bruises evident on the lower limbs, although this one was the most interesting.”
    Henderson pulled the overhead lamp over to where they were looking, the light beamed down to where Henderson traced a latex gloved finger over a faint bruise evident on the thigh.
    “It looked liked there was a pattern to the bruise, so I photographed it with the UV light.” Henderson ushered Hammond to the computer in the small room at the side of the morgue. After several clicks on the mouse, Henderson pulled up a photograph onto the screen for Hammond to look at. What had seemed a faint mark on the upper thigh of Roberts was now revealed to be a bruise measuring about three inches in