Page 17 of The Girl in the Grave
‘This is a single fly pupa.’
She shone a light into the nostril cavity. ‘There is very little damage from maggots considering the length of time she’s been buried. I’m not an entomologist, but I know enough. Judging by the lack of maggots within the body, I’d say she was kept somewhere they couldn’t get to her. We all know how persistent the common housefly is when it comes to finding a body. This looks like maybe an odd fly found her or managed to get to where her body was stored before it was buried. The pupa is the third stage of the maggot’s life cycle and they normally disperse anywhere up to ten metres from the body to pupate.’
Josh was staring at her, and she smiled at him; she knew he didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.
‘Basically, what I’m saying is that after she was killed she was kept somewhere for at least twenty-four hours before she was put into the grave. She had to have been for the fly to have found her, then laid its eggs within twenty-four hours of death. Another twenty-four hours later these eggs hatch into first stage larvae which crawl into the recesses, usually focusing on the head orifices. The eyes, nose, mouth, sometimes the genitals. They then feed and twenty-four hours later you have second stage maggots, another twenty-four hours and it’s third stage which then go on to feed on the body for three to four days. When they’ve finished feeding, they leave the body to pupate. Somehow this one didn’t, which is good because it gives us a better chance of figuring out how long she was dead before she was put into the grave. If you can get a definite last sighting of her we’ll be able to estimate a rough time of death. When I say rough, I mean that because it’s hard with all the different circumstances. It’s better than nothing though. You’ll know, very roughly, how long she was alive before she was killed. Does that make sense?’
Josh nodded. ‘I think so. We just need an ID then a confirmed last sighting before she disappeared. Thanks, Beth, I’ll take anything.’
Closing the mouth, Beth then checked for any abnormalities or deformities in her bones. She couldn’t find any fractures apart from the obvious damage to the fingers.
‘Abe, you can wash her down now, thank you.’ She turned to look at Josh, who was standing there looking pale. ‘I don’t think those tattoos are homemade; they’re not the best I’ve seen but they’re not the worst. Do you know of any studios that have a reputation for tattooing underage girls? They’re not new; I’d say at least a year or two old. I don’t think she’s older than eighteen or nineteen. It might be a start, someplace to start looking.’
He nodded. ‘You might be right, but I don’t think they’d confess to tattooing minors to a copper. It’s not going to help them with their licence, is it?’ Josh took out his work phone and snapped a couple of photos of the girl’s face now that she’d been cleaned up.
‘It also looks as if she’s had a serious attempt at committing suicide. That is a major scar on her arm; it would have required hospital treatment to stem the bleeding.’
She turned back to the body to see the last of the mud being washed away, though it took some time before the water began to run clean. Satisfied, she held her hand up for Abe to stop. ‘Thanks, Abe, that should be enough.’
Now the body was clean, she began the painstaking task of recording every injury, though there weren’t many, noting the size, shape, pattern and location of each external wound. Satisfied she’d documented them all, she stepped to one side to let Claire photograph them and the rest of her body. Under the glare of the florescent strip lights, with all the mud washed away, she looked much younger than Beth had initially anticipated. Her skin was so pale under the harsh lighting.
Who did this to you, and why you? How did they choose you, was it someone you knew or did some stranger come along in the middle of the night and steal you away?
She looked at Josh, her eyes pleading. ‘Where are her parents? A girl this age, surely someone would be missing her. She’s been gone at least eight, maybe nine weeks. If no one has reported her missing then maybe she had no one that cared?’
Josh turned to Sam in response. ‘It’s possible she was in care, let’s hope Sykes and Bell have found where her placement was. I’ve emailed them some pictures.’
‘It doesn’t look as if there’s been a sexual assault, but I’d rather take the samples and rule it out.’ She began to comb through the girl’s pubic hair to secure any foreign or loose hairs before plucking several from the root to be examined more closely. Abe handed her swabs and she deftly began to take oral, nasal, vaginal and anal samples for further examination. When she’d finished those she began to examine the exterior of the scalp for any injuries hidden by the hair. Feeling her way around it and looking closely she couldn’t see anything. Lifting the girl’s eyelids wide open she studied them. ‘I can’t find any telltale signs of petechiae in the conjunctivae.’
Sam looked confused. Beth realised and smiled at her. ‘What I mean is there are no signs of manual asphyxia, it’s a pathological condition. Tiny haemorrhages in the form of specks are seen lining the inner surface of the eyelids and on the mucous membrane.’
Beth continued checking the girl’s ear canals for any evidence of haemorrhaging, then looked again, now the dirt was washed away, at the interior of her mouth, lips and cheeks to see if there were any signs of trauma.
After a while, she stood up and stretched, signalling to Abe silently that it was time to cut. He passed her a scalpel and she made her first incision, right across the head. There was a sudden loud clatter as Carl fell to the floor beside her, and his camera bounced off the metal leg of the steel trolley as he fell against the table holding all the items of clothing. Josh looked at him in horror.
‘Oh shit, he’s passed out.’
Abe pulled off his gloves and plastic apron as he ran over to him, ready to drag him out of the mortuary. Beth paused, completely unfazed, the scalpel dangling mid-air.
‘Someone get him out of here.’
Josh grabbed one arm and Abe the other, and between them they managed to drag him out and into the corridor.
Sam shrugged. ‘Men.’
Beth smiled at her. ‘He’s not the first one.’
‘You can continue, Doc, I’m okay with it.’
Beth nodded. ‘Claire, are you okay to do both wet and dry exhibits?’
‘I am. Sam can always lend a hand.’
‘Thank you.’
She carried on, completing the incision and pulling back the scalp to expose the cranium. She stole a glance at Sam, who was staring at the body, calm and collected, so she continued.
Twenty-Eight
