‘Correct again,’ the doctor confirmed. ‘There was nothing at the scene that indicated foul play, so very understandably, anyone wouldn’t really think twice before assuming that the body on the road was there due to a hit-and-run accident.’
Hunter shifted his attention back to the body’s feet. ‘You said that the missing toenails wereoneof the clues to the fact that something about this hit-and-run didn’t feel right. What were the others? The skin color?’
‘That was another, for sure,’ the doctor replied. ‘This purply shade that his skin has taken on can be caused by a number of different factors – loss of body heat is one of them. His face, handsand feet also show signs of swelling, but not as a consequence of a fracture, which is odd.’ Her head bowed in the direction of the body. ‘But the main clues here are the comminuted open fractures – both of them.’
Hunter and Garcia studied the fractures for several long seconds.
‘There’s a lack of ecchymosis.’ Hunter spoke first.
‘Bang on the money,’ Dr. Hove agreed. ‘There’s no bruising… no hematomas directly around the wound, where blood vessels were clearly severed from such severe trauma. If his blood circulation was normal at the time those fractures occurred, ecchymosis would’ve appeared all around the wound, like you can see around the nail plates on his toes.’
‘So what you’re really saying here is,’ Garcia shot back first, ‘that he was alive when he lost his toenails, but already dead by the time he fractured his wrist and leg?’
‘That’s what the necropsy evidence is showing us, yes,’ the doctor agreed. ‘Which indicates that the perp didn’t just create the tire skid marks on the road, and simply leave the body there, like Robert suggested.’
‘He actually ran him over,’ Hunter corrected himself. ‘Causing the compound fractures… but that happened way after he was already dead.’
Dr. Hove nodded. ‘That’s why the lack of ecchymosis. But that’s not all. He also has three fractured ribs, six broken fingers, three on each hand, and a fractured eye socket – the left one. Those, on the other hand, occurred while he was alive.’
Hunter once again studied the victim’s feet before moving over to his hands. Most of the nails on all of his fingers, including his thumbs, were either chipped or broken. Despite the purple hue that the victim’s skin had taken on, Hunter saw no indications of frostbite, nor on his toes or on his fingers, but he also knew that frostbite wasn’t a prerequisite for hypothermia, which couldalso occur in temperatures that weren’t consideredbitterlycold. That was usually due to the person being wet, sweaty, trapped in cold water, lacking any kind of unnatural body-heat insulation (clothes) or a combination of those. The fact that Shaun Daniels’s body fat seemed to be on the low side would’ve also slightly accelerated the hypothermic process. All in all, there were indeed some indicators to hypothermia, but Hunter knew that Dr. Hove would’ve needed something a lot more concrete to justify her findings.
‘So what led you to conclude that the ultimate cause of death was hypothermia, Doc?’ he asked.
‘Good question, Robert,’ the doctor replied, her head angling slightly left. ‘Because that was where things got a little trickier.’
‘Why is that?’ Garcia, this time.
‘Well, the identification of hypothermia as a COD has always been somewhat problematic in the field of forensic pathology. In the majority of cases, our biggest indication to hypothermia comes from circumstantial evidence – the person is found in the snow, or submerged in freezing water, etcetera. It was precisely the lack of evidence that got me looking for different possibilities. The purpling of the skin, together with the swelling of the face, hands and feet, can indeed be caused by hypothermia, but it can also be caused by—’
‘Poisoning.’ Hunter beat her to the punch.
‘Exactly,’ the doctor agreed, her index finger pointing at him. ‘Which sounded like a much more plausible alternative for a COD, given that we are in California and right at the beginning of summer.’
‘Poisoning sounds fair,’ Garcia commented.
‘That was what I was looking for,’ Dr. Hove continued. ‘Signs of poisoning, when I discovered multiple black spots in his gastric mucosa.’
‘Are you talking about Wischnewski spots?’ Hunter asked.
‘The one and the same.’
Garcia chuckled. ‘I’m not even surprised that you know what they call black spots in someone’s gastric mucosa, what boggles my mind is that you actually know how to pronounce that.’
Hunter shrugged. ‘I read a lot.’
‘And there it is,’ Garcia’s hand came up in a ‘what can you do?’ gesture.
‘Wischnewski spots are considered one of the most reliable and important features in identifying hypothermia,’ Dr. Hove carried on. ‘I was very surprised to find them, which obviously prompted me to search for supportive links to fatal hypothermia – hemorrhages into the synovial membrane, bloody discoloration of synovial fluid of the knee… and other details.’
‘And they were all present?’ Hunter asked.
‘All of them.’ The answer came with a firm nod before she, once again, indicated the body. ‘Ultimately, his heart gave up, but I have no doubt that the reason behind his heart failing was hypothermia.’ Dr. Hove slipped off her latex gloves and threw them in the disposing container. ‘So yes, as crazy as this might sound, this man has frozen to death… in Los Angeles… in mid-June.’
Four
Outside, the temperature had just hit 65°F, with the sun high on a bright-blue and completely cloudless sky. It hadn’t rained in Los Angeles for over two weeks, which had already prompted a barrage of TV, radio and Internet adverts warning everyone about the risks of people inadvertently starting wildfires – something that, unfortunately, tended to hit the City of Angels almost every year during the summer months, causing tremendous destruction, death and loss.
As Hunter and Garcia stepped outside the reception lobby, they both reached for their sunglasses. Garcia’s shades were squared, while Hunter’s were classic aviators.
