Steven Dunne - Deity

‘Not something that an amateur can do in his bedroom then,’ muttered Noble.

‘Absolutely not,’ answered Habib. ‘And strictly speaking he’s not an amateur. Whoever performed this procedure possesses a fair amount of anatomical knowledge.’ He indicated the large opening on the dead man’s flank. The stitching had been removed and, without thinking, Habib pulled the wound open so they could see inside. Noble looked at the ceiling while Brook pursed his lips. ‘This incision in his side was made to remove the internal organs and it’s quite a skill.’

‘Why remove the organs?’ asked Noble.

‘Well, unless he’s making a large haggis,’ sniggered Habib, releasing the flaps of flesh on either side of the wound, ‘the usual reason is to hinder microbial growth and decomposition. And it is common practice in hospital mortuaries for examination purposes, unless there are religious objections.’

‘Just hospitals?’ asked Noble.

‘There are scientific facilities that use cadavers, medical schools, that sort of thing — they have skilled technicians for such procedures. It’s about preservation and, of course, reserving the organs for whatever procedures they might be undertaking.’

Dr Petty walked over to them, removing her face mask and cap. She had short blond hair with tinted highlights. Brook noticed Noble looking at her for longer than necessary.

‘Speaking of undertaking. .’ she said to Habib.

‘Yes. Undertakers and funeral directors would be more likely in this case.’

‘Because it’s not clinical,’ said Brook, nodding. ‘But cosmetic.’

Petty smiled at him. ‘Right. Someone has very carefully, almost lovingly, begun the process of preserving his body. If he came to us as a suspicious or unexplained death,’ she nodded towards the spread-eagled chest cavity, ‘we observe the basics of our profession. We open them up completely for ease of access. It’s not pretty but it gets the job done. Equally, if we need to see the brain, we use a skull key and a saw to take off the top of the head. The only reason to remove the organs through this small incision seems to be cosmetic.’

‘To leave the torso unblemished.’ Brook nodded.

‘And this kind of cosmetic consideration is most likely to be found in the funeral service,’ said Habib. ‘Those gentlemen, and ladies perhaps,’ he added with a simper at Dr Petty, ‘are charged with bringing the dead back to life, at least while the coffin is open to relatives.’

‘That would explain the haircut and shave,’ said Brook.

‘We noticed that,’ said Dr Petty. ‘And did you see the fingernails have been scraped and clipped too. Also the body was washed, with an antibacterial agent, possibly alcohol. It’s difficult to tell after the body was in the water.’

‘Maybe why he was dumped in the river,’ observed Noble.

‘More than likely.’ Petty nodded.

‘I hate to bring it up, but is there any sexual angle here?’ asked Brook.

‘There’s no sign of any sexual activity, forced or otherwise,’ answered Petty.

‘And could the deceased have been through here already and been misplaced?’ asked Noble.

‘Indeed not,’ said Habib sternly. ‘We don’t lose corpses — our procedures are too thorough. And if we had processed him he would have been cut open from the thorax, as you see.’

‘What about the scientific organisations that use dead bodies?’ asked Brook.

‘I can’t speak as to their procedures, Inspector,’ replied Habib. ‘But they’d only accept intact bodies. And they’d also open up the chest in the traditional manner.’

‘So he hasn’t been seen by any agency that does official autopsies or post mortems,’ concluded Noble, scribbling in his notebook.

‘We don’t think so,’ said Petty. ‘Besides, any doctor attending this man could certify COD. But I’m guessing a doctor hasn’t seen him or issued a Death Certificate. Being homeless, it’s also unlikely the deceased has given informed consent for his body to be left to science.’

‘And without consent, a medical school couldn’t have his remains,’ said Brook.

‘Exactly. In the absence of next-of-kin, he would be routinely interred,’ said Petty.

‘So his death is completely off the books until now.’

‘It would seem so.’

Brook rubbed his chin. ‘So if the internal organs were removed. .’

Habib nodded in encouragement. ‘The intestines too.’

‘. . the intestines too,’ echoed Brook. ‘How did you manage to get blood from the heart?’

Habib grinned. ‘The heart was put back.’

‘Put back?’

‘Exactly.’

‘Why?’

‘No idea.’

‘You mean, whoever did this took out the organs and intestines but left the heart in,’ suggested Noble.

‘No,’ said Dr Petty. ‘The heart was severed from the arteries and removed with everything else, but some time later it was put back. There were even a couple of rough stitches attaching it to other tissue, presumably to ensure it didn’t fall out of the cavity.’

Brook’s brow furrowed. ‘What condition was it in?’

‘Very poor — the same as the brain. If he hadn’t died of alcohol poisoning, I suspect his heart would have failed within the year,’ said Habib.

‘Could someone be farming these bodies for profit?’ asked Noble.

‘And put back the heart because it was diseased and unusable?’ said Petty. ‘No chance. Given the condition of both the heart and the brain, I’d say none of the other internal organs would have been suitable for transplant.’

‘I see.’ Brook prepared to leave.

‘There’s one more interesting thing, Inspector.’ Habib walked over to a stainless-steel sink and picked up a small steel bowl to show Brook and Noble the two small pinkish-grey objects slithering inside. ‘This is what’s left of the brain. It’s in two parts because it’s going to be sectioned for analysis. As you can see, it’s fatally compressed.’

‘Unmistakable,’ agreed Brook, glancing sideways at Noble — but for once his Sergeant didn’t respond, preferring to stare steadfastly at the white wall behind Habib’s head. Now Brook could detect the sheen of sweat on his brow and upper lip. Once, Brook would’ve felt the same. He looked at his watch. ‘John, go and find us both a cup of tea and wait for me in the gallery,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘I’ll finish up here.’

Without speaking, Noble darted a glance at Brook and hurried out of the suite.

Brook turned back to the two doctors, both oblivious to Noble’s discomfort. ‘Go on.’

‘You’ll observe the necrosis affecting the brain’s tissue. Very damaged and typical of the alcoholic. But look at this.’ Habib held the bowl out to Dr Petty and she picked up the two pieces of brain in both hands and turned them over. Habib indicated a series of cuts in the underside. ‘If we examine the underside of the brain, we can see the membrane has been punctured several times. Indeed, there has been some slicing of the brain into smaller pieces, some of which are missing.’

‘Missing!’ exclaimed Brook.

‘Now why this was done we can’t be sure,’ continued Habib.

Brook narrowed his eyes. ‘Wait a minute. Pieces of the brain have been removed?’

‘Yes.’

‘But when we found the body, the skull was intact.’

‘It was.’

‘Then never mind why. How could someone do that to the brain with the skull intact?’

‘Good question, Inspector.’ Habib and Petty walked Brook back over to the ice-white corpse and pointed to the scarring below the deceased’s nostrils. ‘We’re not sure but we think someone has fashioned a tool, a kind of thin sharp probe a bit like a scalpel only longer and more robust, possibly hooked at the end. When placed inside the nostril at the correct angle, it can be forced up into the brain to puncture the membrane and allow the CSF to drain away.’