Conversation · The Hanged Man

"I suggest I handle the physical part of the autopsy -- and you take notes."

"Yeah, lets get back to this later." [Leave.]

"I hope we do." He covers his nose. "It's getting really late for an autopsy..."

"Actually... it appears I have forgotten what a field autopsy is."

"Fine," the lieutenant sighs. "It's a three-part form to be filled out on the scene, by the detectives responsible. One takes notes, the other dictates. The goal is to establish cause of death."

"Do we need a scalpel for it?"

"A scalpel is not always required. I hope this is one of those cases... Latex gloves are, however."

Open your ledger at the field autopsy form.

[Leave.]

"Okay, Kim. Take him away." (The lieutenant takes the body away -- work alone for the rest of the day.)

"3. Description of injuries -- now that we've fully examined the body."

"2. Internal examination -- summary."

"Central nervous system," he says and then concludes abruptly: "I have nothing. Do you have anything on this man's central nervous system?"

Of course: there is a moral to be drawn from it -- a moral to this story!

"If I may add the moral of this story..."

"What would that be?" He looks at you inquisitively.

The dead man looks too, with barely contained excitement to hear the moral of his story.

"I'll write N/A."

"Muscoskeletal -- purge fluid is coming from the mouth." He gets close to the swollen mouth-hole, eyes squinting from the fumes: "Not injury related. Eyes and tongue protuberant. Hyoid bone... let's see."

With his eyes almost closed, the lieutenant puts his hand on the dead man's throat and begins to massage it, gently. A rotting smell erupts from the mouth. Purge fluid runs down his lips -- black and viscous.

You hear cracks as the lieutenant moves his sharp fingers inside the flesh. Like the creaking of an old house at night.

"Yeah, jack that fucker off!"

"The hyoid bone is fractured," he says after a while. "The rest of the muscoskeletal system is intact, unremarkable."

Write it down.

"Respiratory system..." Back hunched -- as if in prayer -- he begins to pry open the dead man's jaws. He stops to exert more force. Both hands are used.

He's really doing it -- the dead man's teeth cut into his gloved hands.

"Oral cavity shows no lesions. The victim has received dental implants, possibly after a combat wound. Mouth swollen, haemorrhaging present in mucose of the lips and mouth."

From here it looks as though the clown-faced man is screaming. The tendons of his jaw are torn apart, hyoid ripped from the force of the lieutenant's hands.

"The brain is very vulnerable to compromises in its blood supply."

"I think that may well be the moral of every story, officer." The lieutenant grins.

Thank you for lightening his mood. It's hard down there.

"Nope." Write: N/A.

You don't even have a joke.

The corpse lies on the ground among the remains of an absolutely demolished pinewood branch. It's gently laid on one side.

"Well -- it's down." (Celebrate in a more reserved manner.)

"Mr. Measurehead has done a good job." The lieutenant nods approvingly. "Nothing is too broken -- or compromised. The victim is ready for a field autopsy."

"A field autopsy?"

"Yes." He covers his nose and lists: "One, investigation of the scene. Two, inital examination of the victim. Three, field autopsy. Four, transportation of the body to the morgue. We're on number three."

The RCM's four-phase murder scene processing manual.

"The fuck are they on about?"

"Cops gonna cut his shit up."

"Don't we have someone else for this? A doctor?"

"No. You and I are detectives. The honorary rank of 'detective' signifies our ability to handle the entire incident chain -- from autopsy to clean-up, to social work. Everything."

"Yes, I feel like a detective."

"You are. Your station would not have assigned you on this case if you weren't. Now..."

"It's either this, or we complete the initial interviews. We already met Evrart -- that only leaves the Wild Pines representative. There's one in town, negotiating the strike. She could have information."

He looks around -- at the dark and lonely yard behind the hostel-cafeteria. "Or we could call it a day. It incredibly late."

"No need for a distraction. Let's do this."

"Yes, let's do it tomorrow." [Leave.]

"Good call."

"Yes. Interview. We can always do the autopsy later." [Leave.]

"Not much later, I hope." He looks at the man's rotting remains. "He's about to... melt away soon."

"It's either this, or we complete the initial interviews. We already met Evrart, but didn't quite get his interview done -- for that we would have to ask him about the lynching. Like we did with Joyce."

"It's either this, or we complete the initial interviews. We already met Evrart, but didn't quite get his interview done -- for that we have to ask him about the lynching. There's also a Wild Pines representative in town. She could have some information."

"I don't think I'm a detective."

"Wait -- honorary rank of detective?"

"An honour -- and a burden -- attached to your rank once you've proven yourself able, usually after five to eight years of field work. Mine is lieutenant-detective."

"Got it."

"Good. Now, the way I see it..." He looks at the corpse with some disgust...

"Don't we have someone else to cut his shit open?"