The Triumph of Katie Byrne by Barbara Taylor Bradford Page B

in the trash.
    Mac glanced over at the gurney, and asked, ‘Is that the victim from last night?’
    ‘Yes, it’s Denise Matthews. I finished the autopsy about fifteen minutes ago.’
    Mac was glad the post-mortem was over. Although he was loth to admit it to anyone, especially Allegra, he always felt a bit squeamish when he was in the autopsy room. He had balked at coming here this morning, but he knew he had to see Allegra Marsh, and so he had steeled himself for the visit. Autopsy rooms and morgueswere not his bag, although being in them was part of his job.
    Stepping forward, now that the body was covered, Mac said, ‘What’ve you got?’
    ‘I’m afraid not very much more than I had. And you?’
    ‘The same. It was a bad crime scene to begin with, and then the storm last night did us in. Washed away anything that we might have missed. Apparently it’s very muddy over there at the moment.’
    ‘I have the DNA samples I took last night. But without a suspect there’s no one to match them with. Still, they are here and available, pending an arrest. Plus some wool fibres I found on the body. From a sweater, most probably.’
    Mac nodded. ‘Time of death was as you thought?’
    ‘Yes, approximately six-fifteen last night.’ Allegra walked around the gurney, and leaned against a cabinet a couple of feet away from Mac. She shook her head and a sad expression settled on her face. Then she took a deep breath, and there was a sudden flash of anger in her eyes, when she said, ‘It was a violent strangulation, as I told you. Very heavy bruising, larynx totally crushed. A lot of bruises on her arms, her breasts –’
    ‘But she was fully clothed,’ Mac cut in peremptorily.
    ‘Bruising through her clothes. There’s no other explanation. I doubt that he undressed her then re-dressed her. He must have grabbed her hard, a vice-like grip. Astrong man, I suspect. He was inordinately rough with her, Mac. Her shoulder was dislocated, as well.’
    He shook his head, looking pained. ‘Oh, Jesus,’ he sighed.
    There was a small silence before Allegra said, ‘The blood in the semen…it wasn’t hers, Mac.’
    Mac recoiled fractionally, frowning. ‘What are you saying?’
    ‘Just that. The blood I found in the seminal fluid on the body was not Denise Matthews’s blood. Therefore, it had to be the perp’s blood –’
    ‘The perp’s blood,’ Mac interrupted. ‘How the hell did that get there?’
    ‘Obviously, I can’t say for sure, I can only imagine how, Mac. Perhaps she scratched him in the struggle. She had long nails and they were strong. I found flesh and skin underneath them, also particles of wool fibre. Maybe she scratched his lower extremities and he bled. Or she scratched his penis. Whatever, Mac, there was blood in the semen and the blood is his. It has to be his, because it’s definitely not hers.’
    ‘You said she was a virgin.’
    ‘What I actually said was that I thought she might be a virgin, and that I would only be able to make a proper assessment when I did the autopsy today.’
    ‘Well, was she or wasn’t she?’
    Allegra shook her head. ‘How can I be sure, Mac…’ She hesitated a split second before she went on slowly,‘Look, I don’t believe she was a virgin, because she would have bled, if only a little bit, if she had been. Also, it’s not her blood anyway, not her particular blood type. To be more precise, let me say there’s usually bleeding when the hymen ring is pierced, and especially in young girls. I must repeat, Mac, there was none of Denise Matthews’s blood in the seminal fluid I took from her vagina and her body.’
    ‘So she must’ve had a boyfriend.’
    ‘Yes, I would say so, at some time or other.’
    ‘If only we knew who , it might help us. I wonder…’ Mac rubbed his hand over his chin, his eyes turning thoughtful as he looked at Allegra. ‘Perhaps the perp was her boyfriend…and he got nasty?’
    ‘Maybe.’ Allegra pursed her lips, frowning. ‘What I