Page 10 of Lost Lake
Pleased, El nodded. “And I’m El. It’s short for Elaina.”
She turned her attention back to the body. “Well, El, if you’re thinking strangulation, I can agree with that. At least preliminarily. The blood has seeped into the surrounding tissue, so the bruises occurred perimortem.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“See these,” she said, her voice low but precise as she angled her flashlight toward the victim’s neck. “The bruising runs horizontally. The pattern’s irregular. Fingertips, not a ligature. These smaller red and purple spots are petechiae or tiny ruptures from pressure cutting off blood flow. Classic signs of manual strangulation.”
El imagined the scene. Big powerful hands around Kenna’s throat. She clenched her jaw.
Faye paused, tracing just above the collarbone where the skin had darkened. “Her attacker used significant force, likely both hands. Likely a male. She fought back, but…” Her gaze flicked to the faint crescents near the jawline. “He was stronger. She never had a chance.”
“This says she didn’t drown, right?”
“Not necessarily. Her attacker could’ve inflicted the damage, stopped short of killing her, then thrown her in the water alive.”
El’s imagination ran wild with that.
Faye lifted Kenna’s hand and pointed to the tips of her fingers. “Skin is smooth and normal. No washerwoman’s affect or softer waterlogged fingers yet. A clear sign she wasn’t in the water long. Probably less than thirty minutes. Maybe an hour. But the fact that we found her so soon could contradict death by drowning.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Drowning victims often stay at the surface for a short time. Struggling, submerging, resurfacing. Once unconscious, they slip under. In freshwater, they typically sink after that, though it’s not always immediate.”
“And if she was put in the water postmortem?”
“That’s a different story. She’d sink at first. Floating wouldn’t happen until decomposition kicked in—bacteria producing gases that bloat the body and increase buoyancy. In warm water, that can be a day or two. At this temperature, you’re usually looking at a few days, maybe longer. Depends on the water, her body composition, currents, even what she was wearing.”
The scene played out in El’s mind, Kenna struggling, grasping. She couldn’t imagine how she’d tell Gabe. It would push him past the edge he was already teetering on.
“Of course,” Faye said. “This is all speculation. Air could’ve simply been trapped in her clothing, keeping her on the surface. Especially since she was found so soon. Not something we’ll ever know unless your witness noticed it.”
“He didn’t mention it, but he was in shock. I’ll ask him, but I doubt he would’ve noticed.”
“Then it’ll be up to my examination to reveal if she has water in her lungs.”
“What about the blood?”
Faye lifted Kenna’s shirt. “Just like I suspected. No open wounds. It’s probably not her blood unless there’s a wound elsewhere and the blood transferred here. My examination will answer that too.”
“She also crashed her van into the ravine tonight. I assume the large bruise on her forehead is from that.”
She bent to look at Kenna. “It’s clearly perimortem so you could be right. If so, there’ll be contusions from a seatbelt as well.”
“In past investigations, I learned water washes some DNA away—especially loose material like saliva or skin cells—but some canremain. So we should still test her shirt for DNA.”
“Yes, it gets trapped in the fabric fibers,particularly in porous materials like her cotton shirt, and we could find it.”
“So how soon can you do the autopsy and get me that shirt for DNA testing?”
“First thing in the morning. Around nine, unless something more pressing comes in. Not likely though. In our little county, a potential murder takes precedence over everything else.”
El gritted her teeth. “I’ll be there.”
Faye stood and spun to face her assistant. “Bag her hands, Theo, and let’s get her to the van.”
Theo slipped paper bags over each hand and sealed them with rubber bands. Then he unfurled a black body bag with a flourish.
“I’ll have her stuffed inside in no time,” he said loudly.
