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The Laughing Corpse :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 16 из 213Its mirror was splattered so heavily with blood, it lookedlike someone had covered it in layers of red fingernail polish. Cherry Blossom Red, Carnival Crimson, Candy Apple.
I closed my eyes and counted very slowly to ten. When I opened them the room seemed cooler. I noticed for the first time that a ceiling fan was slowly turning. I was fine. Heap big vampire slayer. Ri-ight.
Dolph didn't comment as I knelt by the body again. He didn't even look at me. Good man. I tried to be objective and see whatever there was to see. But it was hard. I liked the remains better when I couldn't figure out what part of the body they were. Now all I could see was the bloody remains. All I could think of was this used to be a human body. "Used to be" was the operative phrase.
"No signs of a weapon that I can see, but the coroner will be able to tell you that." I reached out to touch it again, then stopped. "Can you help me raise it up so I can see inside the chest cavity? What's left of the chest cavity."
Dolph dropped the sheet and helped me lift the remains. It was lighter than it looked. Raised on its side there was nothing underneath. All the vital organs that the ribs protect were gone. It looked for all the world like a side of beef ribs, except for the bones where the arm should have connected. Part of the collarbone was still attached.
"Okay," I said. My voice sounded breathy. I stood, holding my blood-spattered hands out to my sides. "Cover it, please."
He did, and stood. "Impressions?"
"Violence, extreme violence. More than human strength. The body's been ripped apart by hand."
"Why by hand?"
"No knife marks." I laughed, but it choked me. "Hell, I'd think someone had used a saw on the body like butchering a cow, but the bones … " I shook my head. "Nothing mechanical was used to do this."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, where is the rest of the fucking body?"
"Down the hall, second door on the left."
"The rest of the body?" The room was getting hot again.
"Just go look. Tell me what you see."
"Dammit, Dolph, I know you don't like to influence your experts, but I don't like walking in there blind."
He just stared at me.
"At least answer one question."
"Maybe, what?"
"Is it worse than this?"
He seemed to think about that for a moment. "No, and yes."
"Damn you."
"You'll understand after you've seen it."
I didn't want to understand. Bert had been thrilled that the police wanted to put me on retainer. He had told me I would gain valuable experience working with the police.
I closed my eyes and counted very slowly to ten. When I opened them the room seemed cooler. I noticed for the first time that a ceiling fan was slowly turning. I was fine. Heap big vampire slayer. Ri-ight.
Dolph didn't comment as I knelt by the body again. He didn't even look at me. Good man. I tried to be objective and see whatever there was to see. But it was hard. I liked the remains better when I couldn't figure out what part of the body they were. Now all I could see was the bloody remains. All I could think of was this used to be a human body. "Used to be" was the operative phrase.
"No signs of a weapon that I can see, but the coroner will be able to tell you that." I reached out to touch it again, then stopped. "Can you help me raise it up so I can see inside the chest cavity? What's left of the chest cavity."
Dolph dropped the sheet and helped me lift the remains. It was lighter than it looked. Raised on its side there was nothing underneath. All the vital organs that the ribs protect were gone. It looked for all the world like a side of beef ribs, except for the bones where the arm should have connected. Part of the collarbone was still attached.
"Okay," I said. My voice sounded breathy. I stood, holding my blood-spattered hands out to my sides. "Cover it, please."
He did, and stood. "Impressions?"
"Violence, extreme violence. More than human strength. The body's been ripped apart by hand."
"Why by hand?"
"No knife marks." I laughed, but it choked me. "Hell, I'd think someone had used a saw on the body like butchering a cow, but the bones … " I shook my head. "Nothing mechanical was used to do this."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, where is the rest of the fucking body?"
"Down the hall, second door on the left."
"The rest of the body?" The room was getting hot again.
"Just go look. Tell me what you see."
"Dammit, Dolph, I know you don't like to influence your experts, but I don't like walking in there blind."
He just stared at me.
"At least answer one question."
"Maybe, what?"
"Is it worse than this?"
He seemed to think about that for a moment. "No, and yes."
"Damn you."
"You'll understand after you've seen it."
I didn't want to understand. Bert had been thrilled that the police wanted to put me on retainer. He had told me I would gain valuable experience working with the police.