Page 38 of Bring Them Home

Amanda looked down at the body of Paul Archer. In many cases, she visualized bodies coming to life, a trick her mind played on her. She’d swear the chest was rising and falling. But not with Paul. With the assault done to his body, it was clear he was beyond return, even cleaned and prepped for the postmortem. “Sorry we’re a few minutes late.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.” Rideout picked up a syringe from a wheeled table and poked it into Paul’s remaining eye socket and drew out some vitreous fluid.

Amanda had a tough stomach, but this tested its limits.

“All right, so I’ll get this off for testing and see what range it gives us for time of death.”

Amanda and Trent shared a look.

“Yes, I know the birdman gave an approximation for how long the remains were exposed. Presumably that and TOD are close, but they might not be. When a body is left like this one, exposed to the elements, for a number of days, a variety of tests are needed to establish a timeline. Even testing the vitreous fluid on its own at this point is less accurate. But I did find some blowfly larvae at the third instar stage, which tells me the body was likely in that field between three and seven days.”

Amanda glanced over at Trent, who nodded.

Rideout smiled tightly. “It’s like I can hear your minds working. I know what the man from Wildlife Resources said about the body’s exposure. I agree that the time of death was days ago, not just a matter of hours. You said that this man’s family was taken on Saturday. It’s conceivable that he was killed that day.”

That supported her and Trent’s earlier theory Paul was killed shortly after he was taken. “Can you confirm if he was killed where he was found or somewhere else?”

“Oh, this was a body dump. The CSIs never found cast-off blood at the scene. Lividity was present on his back and calves, so he was placed supine within a couple hours of his death. My opinion is he was placed in that field not long after death. I can also now tell you I believe two stab wounds to his liver were the cause of death. X-rays showed nicks to the lower right ribs in front of the organ. I also believe these injuries were sustained when the victim was standing up. The rest were inflicted when he was on the ground.”

So the killer kept striking Paul when he was already down… “The rest? How many were there?”

“Seven total.”

“Was he dead after the first two stab wounds?” Trent asked.

“Not immediately. He would have bled out within minutes. It’s likely he was aware of the other stabbings, which I believe happened in rapid succession.”

“He wasn’t tortured then?” It was terrifying to think of the alternative. A sadistic killer madly stabbing away and taking delight in inflicting pain.

“I wouldn’t imagine that was the purpose, and there aren’t any defensive wounds on the victim’s hands or arms.”

Silence cloaked the room. Paul’s hands could have been bound, but if that were the case, Rideout would have said as much. What they were left with was a dangerous killer who was still out there with two more potential victims. “Is there anything else you can tell us about the other stab wounds?”

“The wounds were all in places that would have caused the victim significant pain. Though left untreated on their own, they would have proven fatal.”

“Uh, wouldn’t all stab wounds be fatal if they weren’t treated?” Trent countered.

Rideout wriggled a pointed finger at him. “Someone’s a bona fide smart-ass today.”

“Just today?” Amanda kicked out with a smile. “Kidding.” She held up her hands when Trent looked at her.

Trent grimaced, but smirked. “What can you tell us about the weapon that was used?”

“It was a non-serrated blade, anywhere between four to six inches long.”

“Could it just be a standard kitchen knife?” If so, they’d have a hard time of narrowing things down.

“It’s possible, yes.”

She nodded, trying to hide her disappointment.

“All right, well, now you’re all caught up. You ready?” Rideout didn’t wait for either of them to respond. He lowered his face shield and picked up the Stryker saw from the table next to the body. “You might want to step back.”

Amanda would try to ignore how the image of him holding the saw made her think of snapshots from horror flicks. She and Trent retreated in unison.

Rideout didn’t end up taking the standard approach. It wasn’t so much a straightforward Y-incision but the removal of ribs that were still obstructing a deep dive into the torso. The medical examiner made precise cuts, removing pieces of bone and placing them on a wheeled medical table as he proceeded.

Once he was finished, he put the saw down and lifted his shield. “Here we go.” He wasted no time sinking his gloved hands into the torso. He pulled out chunks of organs and intestine that remained after the birds’ feast.