The rotting man lies on his side with his eyes looking straight through you. The belt is…
Speakers: 28
The Hanged Man
Kim Kitsuragi
You
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- Day 2: Search the body one more time, thoroughly.
- 22:00, 23:00, 00:00, 01:00, 02:00, 03:00, 04:00, 05:00, 06:00 Continue Continue
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The rotting man lies on his side with his eyes looking straight through you. The belt is still around his neck, his body is supine and open to intrusion by autopsy.
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The man is decomposing visibly now. Every hour he looks less like a creature and more like a pile of intestines...
The rotting man lies on his side with his eyes looking straight through you. Bits of cargo belt lie on the ground around him, his body is supine and open to intrusion by autopsy.
The rotting man lies on his side with his eyes looking straight through you. His body is supine and open to intrusion by autopsy.
The bloated man is stuffed into the fridge like a rotten piece of meat. It looks disgusting among all the ice cream wrappers.
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- "1. External examination -- now that we have the chaincutters, let's cut the belt."
- Try to remove the dead man's boots.
- Try to remove the dead man's boots again.
- "3. Description of injuries -- summary."
- [Leave.]
- Tell me something, dead man.
- "2. Internal examination -- where were we?"
- "1. External examination -- summary."
- "Hmm-hmm..." (Take a peek at Kim's notes.)
- "Let's bag him. Take him away." (Let the lieutenant take the body away without further examination.)
- Open the notebook at the field autopsy form.
- Search the body one more time, thoroughly.
- "First, what exactly is a field autopsy?"
- 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.)
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- "3. Description of injuries -- now that we've fully examined the body."
- "2. Internal examination -- summary."
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- The corpse cannot feel Kim's hand on his chest. It no longer meaningfully interacts with its surroundings. A thicket of boxes and lists on red copier paper tries to answer why:
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- The corpse lays slouched to the side, oblivious to its surroundings. The field autopsy form describes his state in three parts:
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- The lieutenant adjusts his glasses and takes a deep breath.
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"Mhm." He shows you the point on the man's neck where belt cuts into the flesh. "Cut with as much precision as you can, please."
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- The knot is the weak spot. The chaincutters fit in there. Steady now, like a flower arranger -- two cuts and it should come loose.
- Concentrate on the belt, not on who is whose pig. There is no pig. There are only the chaincutters -- and the belt.
- Being Cuno's pig has a steadying effect on your hand. Go with the flow, man...
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After some deliberation you sink the cutters into the knot tying the belt together. You squeeze the rubber handles together, sweat forming on your brow...
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Snap! The knot is slashed. Another cut and the belt falls apart like a flower bouquet, revealing the dead man's neck -- and the dark red ligature mark around it.
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- Snap! The knot is slashed. Another cut and the belt falls apart like a flower bouquet, revealing the dead man's neck -- and the dark red ligature mark around it.
- Snap! The knot is slashed. Another cut and the belt falls apart like a flower bouquet, revealing the dead man's neck -- and the dark red ligature mark around it.
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"Here," he hands you the chaincutters back and then kneels closer to the body -- running his finger along the dark red groove. Until he comes to a gap...
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"The rope rises to a point," he says, "leaving a gap in the ligature mark. The suspension point is in the back of the neck, on the nape."
As it ought to. This is where its grip on the curdled meat is gentlest, pulling up...
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- "The rope rises to a point, leaving a gap in the ligature mark. The suspension point is in the back of the neck." The lieutenant has kneeled closer, running his finger along the dark red groove -- until there's a gap.
- "The rope rises to a point," he says, "leaving a gap in the ligature mark. The suspension point is in the back of the neck, on the nape."
"Haemorrhaging is observed on the skin above and below the ligature mark. The mark is well pronounced, consistent with a drop from 1 or 1.5 metres."
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"Haemorrhaging is observed on the skin above and below the ligature mark. It is well pronounced, consistent with a drop from 1 or 1.5 metres." He wipes his forehead. "That's a visual on the injury for part 3."
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"Chest is intact." He presses down on it. "Normal contour. Abdomen is protuberant, pelvis intact. Genitalia..." He pulls down the man's underpants.
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This is clearly what they've been waiting for. Ever since the autopsy began. The lieutenant is trying to make it as boring as possible.
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Doesn't feel like anything. A cold spot under your gardening gloves, unremarkable and un-alive.
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The lieutenant is unaware of what's happening in your head and why you're touching it. He merely expects you to write down his notes on the man's genitalia so you can move on.
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Doesn't feel like anything. Just cold flesh under your finger, unremarkable and un-alive.
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The dead man's penis is average-sized, congested from the downward collection of blood. The testicles are uneven in length, hanging underneath. The genitalia is greenish; marbling is present around the crotch.
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"Not from where I look, no. But you're right. Your hunch was right. He was having sex when he died."
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"Ah, yes -- your hunch, before." He takes a moment to breathe. "We could have a semen analysis requested from Processing, but we're already requesting toxicology. There's a one test limit."
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The corpse with his pants down does not have an opinion on the subject. All he has is genitals and a deathly odour.
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"Ah, yes -- your hunch, before. We can have a semen analysis requested -- from Processing -- if that's what you meant."
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- "No, I was trying to get a psychic read."Remembered: 1
- "Yes. Processing. Science. That's what I meant."Remembered: 1
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"No you weren't, officer -- that would be preposterous." He shakes his head. "Just write down that we request a semen, vaginal, and anal fluids analysis."
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Write it down -- add semen sample.
Write it down -- amend toxicology for a semen sample.
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The lieutenant looks relieved. "Back is symmetrical and intact. Upper and lower extremities are intact -- but asymmetrical. There are old combat injuries on the right hand, thigh, and hip."
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Bullets have bitten little pieces out of him. It must have been excruciating, especially the hip... Before you is a temple of pain that knew little tenderness in life.
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- The lieutenant looks relieved. "Back is symmetrical and intact. Upper and lower extremities are intact -- but asymmetrical. There are old combat injuries on the right hand, thigh, and hip."
- "Back is symmetrical and intact." He struggles to turn the corpse on his side. "Upper and lower extremities are intact, but asymmetrical. There are combat injuries on the right hand, thigh, and hip."
"In addition, I see smaller, residual scars -- too numerous to count, covering about 30% of his skin."
From wounds sustained over two, maybe more decades. Dispersal and accumulation indicates long and active combat duty.
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"Last item -- hands." He takes the man's right hand in his, inspects it -- then moves on to the other hand...
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