Jeff Abbott - No Rest for the Dead

Hand over his nose, Kroege looked closer, realizing too late that the movement was caused by a swarm of maggots.

Then he was spinning, flailing, shoes skidding in the primordial ooze, and slipped and fell, his face inches from the hideous skull, one murky, jellied eye socket staring at him as he frantically scampered away and somehow managed to right himself, the contents of his belly having finally worked their way up into his throat, vomit spewing forth as he raced from the workroom.

EVIDENCE

TRANSFER RECORD

Institute of Legal Medicine

REPORT OF AUTOPSY EXAMINATION

DECEDENT

Document Identifier:C1998073042

Autopsy Type:ME Autopsy

Name:Unknown (Presumed, Thomas, Christopher, DOB 19 09 52)

Age:35 to 50 years

Race:White

Sex:M

Stature:183 centimeters +/-

AUTHORIZATION

Authorized by:Dr. Dagmar Zepper

Received From:Berlin City Police, District 3

ENVIRONMENT

Date of Exam20/7/1998 Time of Exam0915 hours

Autopsy FacilityInstitute of Legal Medicine, Berlin

Persons Present.Adolph Munger, Mette Brinkman

CERTIFICATION

Cause of Death

Undetermined

Manner of Death

Homicide

The facts stated herein are correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signed by

Bruno Muntz, MD 20/7/1998, 1429 hours

DIAGNOSES

Decomposed human adult

IDENTIFICATION

Body Identified By

Personal effects; partial print, left fifth finger

EXTERNAL DESCRIPTION

Body ConditionDecomposed/skeletal

HairDegraded, original color is undeterminable

TeethMissing, save one fragment

Clothing was adult male-type trousers, jacket, shirt, and undergarments. A gold belt buckle bore the initials CT, surrounded by a circular diamond pattern. When removed from the apparatus, the remains weighed 60 kilograms. Organs were liquefied. Brain and soft tissue were putrefied. Some bones remained connected by ligamentous tissue. One digit was deeply embedded in the left femoroacetabular junction, preserving the tissue of the distal aspect. Insect specimens were collected and submitted for analysis. See separate entomology report.

INJURIES

Though sloughing, the skin of the torso and limbs showed multiple sharp-instrument perforations. Though putrefied, the muscles of the torso and limbs showed multiple sharp-instrument perforations. Fifty-three fractures and perforations were seen on the skull and postcranial skeleton. No associated hemorrhage was evident. All sharp- and blunt-instrument trauma was consistent with postmortem injury due to spikes projecting inward within the iron maiden apparatus.

DISPOSITION OF CLOTHING AND PERSONAL EFFECTS

Clothing discarded. Belt buckle returned to family along with remains.

PROCEDURES

Radiographs

Selected postmortem odontological and long-bone radiographs were obtained to aid in determining identity and cause of death. See separate radiology and odontology reports.

IDENTIFICATION

See separate fingerprint report.

INTERNAL EXAMINATION

Body Cavities

Organs liquefied. No samples retained.

Skeletal examination

Survey

The bones consisted of a complete adult skeleton. Fractures and perforations were noted at fifty-three locations. (See attached skeletal diagram.) Femoral measurements were taken to establish height. Following skeletal survey and measurement, radiographs were made of the maxilla and mandible, the torso, and the long bones of the lower and upper extremities. Blunt- and sharp-instrument trauma was evident at fifty-three sites. No associated hemorrhage was observed at any trauma site. Following the examination of radiographs by the radiologist and the odontologist, the bones were packaged for transport to the United States.

SUMMARY AND INTERPRETATION

At the time of discovery decedent’s identity was unknown. The body had been wrapped in thick plastic and taped.

Officials at the San Francisco Police Department provided information of a missing person, Thomas, Christopher, last seen alive 20/06/1998. Dr. Dagmar Zepper, Berlin, medical examiner, assumed jurisdiction of the body and authorized autopsy. Review of Christopher Thomas’s medical records showed that he was a white male, stature 180 centimeters, forty-five years old at the time of his disappearance.

Autopsy examination showed a skeletonized human adult with liquefied organs and putrefied brain and musculature. Long-bone measurements were consistent with a white male of stature of approximately 180 centimeters. Findings were consistent with enclosure of the body within the iron maiden apparatus following death.

Fingerprint analysis positively identified the decedent as Christopher Thomas. See fingerprint report.

Entomological analysis suggested a PMI greater than 18 days, a time period consistent with an LSA for Christopher Thomas of 20/06/1998 with discovery of the body on 18/07/1998. See entomology report.

In my opinion, the cause of death in this case is most appropriately certified as “undetermined.” Examination of the skeletal remains does not allow differentiation of death from a natural disease process such as pneumonia, or from a nontraumatic external means, such as asphyxia.

The circumstances of body treatment require manner of death be classified as “homicide.”

Bruno Muntz 20 July 1998

Bruno Muntz, MD20 July 1998

DIAGRAMS

1. Skeleton (front/back)

ASSOCIATED REPORTS

Entomology

Fingerprint

Odontology

Radiology

The fog was in.

The forty-two-year-old estate lawyer Stan Ballard pulled his car into an open parking space at Ocean Beach about a hundred yards south of San Francisco’s legendary tourist attraction the Cliff House, which was all but invisible through the gray cloud that enveloped the western half of the city.

For a long moment, cocooned in the warmth of his Lexus, Ballard simply sat behind the wheel and let the motor run, watching the mist settle onto the windshield, almost as if it were actually raining. But there was no real rain, only the damned perennial fog. On the dashboard, he noted the external temperature-forty-three degrees-and shook his head with disgust.

The first day of summer. Ridiculous.

Ballard wore a light charcoal suit with infinitesimally small, maroon pinstripes that had set him back $1,900 at Barcelino. He also sported a TAG Heuer watch, a $200 custom-made ivory dress shirt with his initials on the breast pocket, a Jerry Garcia tie (to balance out the ultraconservative tone of the rest of his attire), a highly shined pair of Brioni loafers. Even his knee-length, black silk socks came dear-$18 a pair. But he knew that if you wanted to instill confidence in your clients, you simply had to dress the part, as though money were the last thing you, or they, ever had to worry about.