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🕑 Added 2025-05-30 11:13:35 +0000 UTCAnatomy of a Killer
Chapter 80 – The Red Wedding, Part 3
The first thing Larry did to move the case forward quickly was change his clothes. He did so swiftly, aware that time was of the essence.
Given the high number of bodies, autopsy rooms 1 and 2 were placed under his jurisdiction. Upon returning to the first room, he saw that Max had already gotten started and had made a central incision in the torso of the first victim.
Larry was informed that he would have the assistance of another forensic specialist, a professional named Dilan. Without wasting time, he headed to the room to coordinate the team.
Upon entering, he looked at the staff present and began issuing commands in a firm tone: “Max, you’ll be in charge as lead forensic specialist. Dilan, you’ll assist him.”
“Understood,” replied Dilan, knowing this was a complex case. In situations like this, two pairs of eyes were always better than one.
“Pay close attention to the child’s clothing, especially in the chest area. Cut it precisely and send it to the lab for analysis. We might find relevant traces.” After a few seconds of thought, Larry turned to Max: “Dilan won’t perform complex procedures for now. Come with me, I need your support.”
“Alright! Let’s get started.” With Jack in charge of logistics, the bodies were quickly distributed to the dissection tables.
Larry carefully cut the clothes of Alicia Snow, observing every detail intently. To him, Alicia was the most important victim in the case.
Max worked alongside him without needing verbal instructions; he knew exactly when to take a photo. Their coordination was flawless.
“Recording!”
“We’re ready. You can begin,” said Max, who had set up the cameras and recorders to document everything in detail.
Larry examined Alicia’s lips and noticed clear indentations in a grid pattern, likely caused by metal or wire gloves.
Suddenly, he spotted a circular bite mark on the right auricle. Two of the points were deeper and showed traces of blood. The arc of the bite was semicircular, and the deeper marks aligned with the position of the incisors, which appeared shovel-shaped and relatively large—typical of deciduous teeth, in other words, a child’s.
Larry closed his eyes, reflecting. The second family member, Ron Snow, had normal front teeth. That bite had to have been made by the attacker.
Quickly, he took a swab and collected a sample around the dental mark, searching for saliva traces. “The bite was made from behind. I strongly suspect the killer made it.”
Then he carefully clipped the victim’s nails and stored them in evidence bags.
Without needing to be asked, Jack, who was observing from behind, took both bags and arranged for their immediate transfer to the lab.
“Send them for analysis. Max, make sure all evidence is processed according to full protocol.” Larry let Max hand the bags to an assistant who was there specifically for testing.
As he turned the victim’s hand, he noticed a deep clover-shaped imprint on the palm. One of the edges was stained with blood, and the depth of the mark suggested Alicia had gripped the object tightly just before dying.
“Max, take a picture. This is an impression made by a metallic object,” Larry said without looking up.
Jack’s presence increased the pressure on the team, even for colleagues like Dilan. But Larry wasn’t concerned with those competitive dynamics. He took a deep breath, raised the scalpel, and began the dissection.
Alicia’s neck had a cut running from left to right. Both common carotid arteries and the trachea were completely severed. The incision was precise, with no hesitation. Larry noticed a greasy substance clinging to the edge of the wound.
He took a disposable scalpel, scraped a bit of the substance, and placed it in a vial.
“Send this for inspection.”
“What is it?” Max asked, imagining worse scenarios.
“I suspect it’s petroleum jelly. I need confirmation.”
Max, peeking from behind the camera, raised an eyebrow. “Vaseline? On the knife?”
Larry nodded. Then he continued with the thoracic and abdominal dissection. During examination of the uterus, he observed that the uterine wall was abnormally thin and showed signs of perforation. The cervical opening was straight.
“The victim underwent a curettage,” Larry murmured softly.
Once they sutured the abdominal cavity, Alicia’s body was removed and replaced with that of her older sister, Carolina.
Larry used the brief interval to visit autopsy room number 2.
The child’s body had already been examined. Dilan had carefully sutured the abdominal cavity, but the skull was still open.
Larry examined the boy’s neck wound: there was a clear defect. “Did the weapon have any particular features?”
He looked again at the brain tissue, visibly damaged. The cranial and cervical injuries didn’t seem to have occurred at the same time.
“Is there a time gap between the neck wound and the cranial trauma?”
“We believe the child fell from a height after his throat was cut. He was already dead when he hit the ground,” Dilan replied quickly.
Larry nodded, satisfied with the analysis. “You and Max will handle the autopsy of the elderly couple. I’ll take care of the remaining bodies.”
“You’re the boss.”
“And remember: collect samples from the mouth and nose of every victim. We might recover the killer’s DNA.”
