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“The gentleman is rarely happy.”
Good point, boss.
“I will explain to Monsieur Claudel that after a bullet enters a body, elasticity causes the skin to retract,” LaManche said. “Thus, a wound can appear smaller than the projectile that has passed through. To guess gun caliber would be folly.”
I thought a moment, anxious for some morsel to offer Claudel.
“Can we get a height estimate?” I asked Lisa.
She collected a portable stadiometer, positioned one end of the long rod at the man’s foot, slid the other to the top of his head.
“Sixty-five inches,” she said.
I turned to LaManche. “The bullet trajectory is posterior and downward?”
He nodded.
“I can tell Claudel that the victim was short, the shooter probably taller.”
“Possibly taller,” LaManche cautioned.
“Possibly taller,” I agreed.
We finished just before noon.
A full autopsy produced no more surprises. As LaManche had predicted, the gunshot wound to the man’s chest had been fatal. The absence of water in his lungs and trachea suggested that he was dead before entering the river.
Back in my office, I emailed pictures of the man’s face to Detective Musgrove. Not wanting to upstage LaManche, I said nothing to her about the new findings concerning cause and manner of death.
Next, I called Claudel. Got his voice mail. Left a message.
I was eating a soggy egg salad sandwich when my phone rang.
“Dr. Brennan,” I answered.
“Deniz Been.” Claudel bulled right in.
“Sorry?” I said, confused.
“The man’s name is Deniz Been. I got a hit when I ran the prints.”
“What database—”
“Been is nineteen years old, a citizen of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
“Why was he in the system?”
“The young man has a sheet, though it appears that most are juvenile offenses.”
“Why—”
“Do you want to hear this?”
I held my tongue, inwardly counted to ten. The exercise slowed my pulse but did little to soothe my annoyance.
“On September tenth of last year Been reached Montreal aboard Delta flight #2907, having connected through Atlanta. Upon entry, he presented a British passport issued to citizens of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is unknown where he resided for the seven months after his arrival. I am following up on that.”
I let him go on.
