Beverly Connor - Dust to Dust

“Stacy’s death was ruled an accident by autoerotic asphyxiation. The father believes it was murder. The police won’t listen to him. Understandably, their position is that the father simply does not want to believe his child would do what it appears that she did.”

Kingsley handed the detective’s report, the autopsy report, and the crime scene photo to Diane.

“Most cases of autoerotic asphyxia are male,” commented Diane as she read the police report.

“I know,” said Kingsley. “One thing that attracted me to his case was the profiling. The detective in charge had taken basic profiling courses the FBI offered to local law enforcement departments-I was the instructor. I should be jailed for malpractice.”

Diane glanced up at him. He sounded bitter.

“The detective first suggested that because she was a little overweight, and homely -his word, not mine-that she was dateless and therefore frustrated. That led her to practice this form of entertainment -again, his word, not mine.”

“I imagine her father had a reaction to that,” said Frank.

“He did,” said Kingsley. “He pointed out that his daughter had a boyfriend, and many other friends, she was enrolled in the local community college, and she and a couple of her friends had a band. They practiced in his garage. He was sure she was not into anything kinky.”

“What did the detective say about the boyfriend?” said Diane.

“He revised his original ‘profile’ to suggest that since she was a college student and involved in a band, the autoerot ica was probably something kids in her group were trying out. He made it sound like sniffing glue or taking drugs. When his first profile hadn’t panned out, he revised it to fit his conclusion of what happened. First she did it because she was unpopular; then she did it because she was popular.” Ross Kingsley threw up his hands as if in surrender. “Anyway, tell me what you think. I promised Mr. Dance I would look into it. In the space of nine years he has lost both his children. He is a devastated man with no other recourse. He was going to give us his life savings to open an investigation. I talked my bosses into letting me work on it pro bono.”

Diane read the report twice and handed it to Frank when he reached for it. She took a breath and looked at the photograph. It showed a young adult woman, nude, with a rope around her neck. She was in a kneeling position on a bed. One end of the rope was tied to a bedpost and she was leaning forward into the noose. There was a towel half under the rope and half falling out. There were clothespins attached to each of her nipples.

“Her father didn’t find her, did he?” said Diane.

“No. How did you know?” asked Kingsley.

“He wouldn’t have left her this way. No father would, even if it meant disturbing evidence,” said Diane.

“She was found by a friend, who called 911,” said Kingsley.

Diane put down the photograph and picked up the autopsy report. She read it several times, picked up the photograph again, and looked at it. She rose from her stuffed chair and went into the kitchen and came back with a magnifying glass.

“Is this the only crime scene photograph?” asked Diane.

“Yes,” said Kingsley. “Have you found something?”

Diane didn’t answer; she continued examining the photograph with the magnifier. After a minute she put the picture and the magnifying glass down on the table.

“There are two things that make me question the finding,” she said. “The first is the knot in the rope. Do you have the rope?”

“That’s right, you do forensic knot analysis,” said Kingsley. “How could I forget that? What about the knot? Oh… no, we don’t have the rope.”

“Anyone who is into this form of self-gratification would use some variation on a slipknot to hold the rope around the neck so that when pressure is released, the rope loosens. This is a granny knot-an incorrectly tied square knot. Granny knots are known for their difficulty in untying. Look at this.” Diane handed the photograph to Kingsley along with the magnifying glass. “The rope is tied tight around her neck. No way did she do this. Frankly, I’m surprised the forensics people didn’t notice it. Did any forensics person work it as a crime scene?”

“No, just the detective assigned to the case,” said Kingsley. “I see it now. Of course. She would never have been able to get out of this. In fact, as tight as the rope was around her neck, she would have passed out before she could even arrange herself in this position. Funny, I never noticed how the rope was tied, and I studied crime scene photographs of autoerotic asphyxia. They contained elements much like this one-accessories to aid in arousal, rope around the neck, a towel to prevent ligature marks… ”

“But that’s the second thing,” said Diane. “She does have ligature marks on her neck.”

“Are you saying… What exactly are you saying?” asked Ross Kingsley.

“Ligature marks are briefly mentioned in the autopsy report, but only that they are present. They are not described in any detail,” said Diane. “But look at the photograph. Look at the marks on the neck where the towel has slipped. See this ligature mark?” She pointed to a clear linear bruise on the victim’s neck and looked up at Kingsley. “It’s an inch lower on the neck than where the tightened rope is cushioned by the towel. If I could see autopsy photos, I believe they would show two ligature marks. One made perimortem, and the other made postmortem.”

“You’re saying she was strangled; then this was staged after her death?” said Kingsley.

“It looks that way. What I believe is the second ligature mark looks very deep and appears to extend under the towel-at least, the mark is deep right up to where the towel covers the neck. The rope should have made a lighter impression on the skin at the edge of the towel.”

“The towel at that point would start to hold the rope off the neck,” said Kingsley.

Diane nodded. “I think this makes the manner of death worth a second look.” Diane looked at the signature of the medical examiner-Oran Doppelmeyer. “I’m not familiar with this medical examiner. Is he new?”

“I believe so,” said Kingsley. “So, does this mean you will help me?”

“You have enough here to get the lead detective to reopen the case,” said Diane. “The father would probably give permission to exhume the body.”

“Yes, well, I’m sure we could do that. But it would be really good for my firm if we could get the credit for solving the case.” He raised his hand when Diane opened her mouth to speak. “I know we will have to hand it off to the police eventually, but I, on behalf of the firm that so graciously hired me, would like to hand the detective a truckload of evidence along with the solution. After all, it’s a closed case and we would not be interfering in an ongoing investigation. Besides, they might botch it up again.”

Frank had been quiet the whole time Kingsley and Diane discussed the case. He eyed Kingsley.

“You think Stacy was killed because of her investigation into her brother Ryan’s murder conviction,” said Frank. “But you’re afraid the detective will ignore that angle and try to hang her death on the boyfriend, or some other friend. You think he’s a man who likes to take shortcuts.”

“You’re pretty good at this profiling thing yourself,” said Kingsley.

“Why do you believe her death is connected with her brother’s case?” asked Frank.

“Because Stacy’s father told me that in her room she kept a thick folder filled with documents, clippings, interviews, and notes on her investigation into the case against her brother. Now the folder, along with all her findings, is missing. It’s too much of a coincidence,” said Ross. “I felt it before. And now, with what you’ve found in the evidence, I’m convinced there is a connection, and her death was no accident.”