Death by Exposure Read Online Free Page A

stomach did a somersault. “So what else can you tell me about the body, or do I have to wait until the next hockey game?”
    â€œI can tell you the basics. Male, 1.8 metres, weighed around 79 kilograrns, brown hair, brown eyes, left-handed.”
    The chief raised an eyebrow. “How do you know he was left-handed?”
    â€œHe had a watch on his right wrist. People who are left-handed do that.”
    â€œAnd have you determined the cause of death?”
    â€œMy best guess is exposure.”
    â€œExposure?”
    â€œHe froze to death.”
    â€œSo you don’t suspect foul play?” the chief asked.
    â€œCan’t rule that out. He has injuries to his face and a broken leg.”
    â€œI saw the facial injuries, but I didn’t know about the broken leg,” the chief said.
    â€œLeft leg, femur. Bad break.”
    â€œThe femur...that’s the big bone above the knee, right?”
    The coroner nodded. “It’s a hard one to fracture.”
    â€œHow do you think it happened?”
    â€œI think both the facial injuries and the broken leg are consistent with a fall from a great height-like from the top of the crevasse he was found in.”
    The chief scratched his head. “But you said he died from exposure, right?”
    â€œYep. The injuries weren’t sufficient to cause death.. .at least directly.”
    â€œCan you explain that?”
    â€œBecause of the injuries he wasn’t able to climb out of the crevasse. He froze over the next few days. Mind you, someone could’ve pushed him into the crevasse.”
    â€œWhat? Now you’re saying he
might
have been murdered?”
    â€œWho’s to say? It would really help if we knew who he was. Have you had any luck making an identification yet?”
    The chief took another gulp of coffee. “None.”
    â€œNot even with the fingerprints I lifted?”
    â€œNo match, which just means he was never in jail or in the armed forces.”
    â€œHow about that notebook that was found with the body?” the coroner asked.
    â€œIt was some sort of journal. No names or phone numbers or identification, and unfortunately most of the ink has been blurred and smeared and can’t be read.”
    â€œBut you can read some of it?”
    â€œYeah, mostly a few lines on each page, but nothing that can help us.”
    â€œWhat about the cameras in the bag you found?” the coroner asked. “Like the clothes, the watch, and a flashlight the man had, they also helped me to establish the age of the body. According to the manufacturers, those models were made before 1960.
    â€œYeah, the four cameras the guy had in a camera bag were our last best hope,” the chief said.
    â€œThey’re pretty pricey, aren’t they?”
    â€œTop of the line,” the chief confirmed.
    â€œWere you able to do anything with the serial numbers?”
    â€œNope. Dead end. But it’s not what’s
on
the cameras that was helpful, but what was
in
one camera that’s important.”
    â€œIn the camera?”
    â€œThe film.”
    â€œThe film! What good would fifty-year-old film do?”
    â€œIt would produce fifty-year-old pictures,” the chief said.
    â€œCome on, film in a camera trapped under tonnes of snow for five decades or more couldn’t possibly- You developed the pictures, didn’t you?”
    â€œWe didn’t have anything to lose trying.” He removed a manila envelope from the briefcase he’d brought down from his office. “Three of the cameras had no film in them.”
    â€œAnd the fourth?”
    The chief grinned. “Sixteen pictures.”
    â€œThat’s amazing!”
    â€œIt’s a pretty special camera that can stay waterproof that long. Here, let me show you.” The chief opened the envelope, took out the pictures, and placed them side by side on a table.
    â€œThese are beautiful!” the coroner said as he picked