Moses Black (1)

The body was lying on the kitchen table. From his position, Black noted the passive blood spatter and drip patterns on the legs of the table and the floor. The patterns should be consistent with blood dripping from the table, victim, murder weapon or the assailant’s hands. Using a flashlight, scanning the floor in front of him, he took photographs of his
approach to the table. When he encountered possible trace particles, with patience and care, he gently dabbed them with tape. Standing adjacent to the table, at different angles, the pathologist clicked away with his 35mm Nikon to capture the proximity of the body to the furniture and cooker. Black provisionally daubed the naked body for any trace of fibre, hair, or bodily fluid. After photographing the victim, he examined and measured the open wound running from the abdomen to the rectum. A deep incision travelling from right to left had cut through the cavity wall of the stomach. Visible cuts inside the gut also travelled in the same direction.

From the location, extensibility, angle of the vertical incision, the offender appeared to be standing at the table near the victim’s legs. Why did the offender(s) take that position in preference to the obvious, adjacent to the victim? The answer made his stomach churn. The offender, left handed, must have chosen that spot to see the full effect of the debauchery on the victim’s face. Shining a flashlight at the side of the body and then onto the floor, something had interfered with the blood flow from the point of origin. The extent of blood on the floor bore little resemblance to what he had expected. Razor-like patterns of blood where the body touched the table confirmed his suspicions. Black turned off his flashlight. Standing motionless near the table, he tried to take in the scene. Why did someone place a sheet under the body to prevent blood dripping onto the floor? It made no sense at all. Was this part of some amateur plan to impede or hinder his examination? Where was the sheet? Did the offender use it to scatter blood and other critical evidence in order to lay a false trail?