Burial Ground Read Online Free Page A

abdomen where it
appeared that piranhas, or some other small-mouthed, toothy
critters, had absolved him of a large measure of his viscera.
Apparently they had also feasted upon his manhood. Once Prentice
had cleaned his legs, he carefully rolled Hunter's body over. His
back, buttocks, thighs, and calves were all livid with blood,
cellular fluid, and retained river water.
    A quick spray through Hunter's hair and the
ME was about to roll him over again when he abruptly paused. Leo
noticed several sections where the fluid was beginning to drain in
foul, sappy ribbons. Prentice leaned closer and inspected the
wounds. There were two large punctures over the lower aspect of the
rib cage. He sprayed directly into the holes and clumps of clotted
blood and mud washed out.
    "Twin dorsal stab wounds, one to either side
of the spine," Prentice said. "On the right: entrance between the
tenth and eleventh posterior ribs. Visible comminuted fracture of
the tenth rib. Inferior displacement of a triangular fragment.
Approximate penetration: three inches. On the left: entrance
between the seventh and eighth posterior ribs. Oblique fractures of
both the superior and inferior ribs without significant
displacement. Again, approximate penetration of three inches."
    Leo eased forward to better see between the
isolation-gowned men. In addition to the Chief ME, there were three
other men. He'd only been introduced to one, another medical
examiner who had apparently bathed in aftershave before entering
the room. Leo had already forgotten his name.
    "Both wounds were inflicted by the same
weapon as evidenced by the external characteristics of the soft
tissue. No telltale indications of a sharpened edge. No "V" pattern
from a blade being twisted or widening of the laceration consistent
with rapid retraction. Clean incisions through the latissimus
dorsi and erector spinae muscles. The epidermal layer is
curled inward with no sign of attempted healing. Superior and
lateral sides of the wounds are smooth, the inferior ragged,
indicating downward force. No bruising to suggest impact from a
hilt or handle. Obviously a rounded implement. Not a knife.
Definitely antemortem." He stuck his finger into the wound. "Angled
entrance with inferior curvature of roughly thirty degrees.
Possibly some kind of hook with a shallow arch."
    Leo closed his eyes and struggled to keep
from imagining the look on his son's face as someone repeatedly
stabbed him in the back with a hook. The doctor's monotonous voice
and vivid play-by-play description of his son's injuries faded. He
thought about how much pain Hunter must have endured, and it made
him sick to his stomach.
    The whine of a Stryker saw roused him from
his thoughts. Dr. Prentice had finished performing his external
inspection and rolled the body onto its back. He had created the
Y-incision and reflected the skin from Hunter's chest to expose his
sternum and ribs. Prentice used the saw to cut through the lateral
sections of the rib cage, and removed the front half as a single
unit like the dome of a serving tray to expose the contents of the
thoracic cavity.
    "The mediastinum is shifted to the right,
compressing the right lung against the ribs." The recorder whirred
as Prentice poked and prodded with a dull steel implement. "Both
lobes of the contralateral lung are contracted and shrunken, a
consequence of the tension pneumothorax created by the left dorsal
puncture wound."
    "Excuse me, Dr. Prentice," the younger man
at the head of the table asked. Leo suspected he was a medical
student as he hardly looked like he was out of his teens. "If the
collapse of the lung was caused by the stab wound, shouldn't it
have caused an open pneumothorax, and thus only a mild lateral
shift of the esophagus, trachea, and blood vessels?"
    "Remember to begin with observation, not
speculation. Stick to the known facts. This man's thoracic anatomy
reflects a tension pneumothorax, meaning that no air entered the pleural space."
    "You're