Page 46 of Sinful Justice

MINKA

“Recording is on.” Not the bubbly woman from earlier today, Aubree stands opposite me in a lab coat, gloves, and glasses, and a camera in hand. “We’re ready to go, Doctor Mayet.”

“Alright. This is Doctor Minka Mayet, chief medical examiner, assisted by Doctor Aubree Emeri, performing the autopsy of Louisa Gloria Thoma. Victim was visually identified by her mother and her neighbor on scene. Louisa was ten years old at death.” I glance up at Aubree. “Let’s cover history first.”

“Yes, Doctor.” She lowers her camera and looks down at the little girl. “Ten years old, the victim would have turned eleven on June thirtieth. Blonde hair with natural highlights even in the winter, green eyes. Four feet, nine inches tall, eighty-five pounds. Louisa is the daughter of Garry and Carlene Thoma. Sister to Georgia, nine, and Ayana, eight. Shall we make a note to ask Detectives Fletcher and Malone to check for domestic violence history?”

“Yes.” I bring my eyes to hers. “But take care, Doctor. You’re forming an opinion, and by doing so, you may compromise your investigation. Stick to the facts.”

She drops her gaze back to Louisa. “Yes, Doctor Mayet. Louisa is in the fifth grade. Her parents are married. No family on her mother’s side nearby.”

Isolation 101.

“Let’s start with what appears to be obvious,” I speak for Aubree and for the record. “Work our way out. Cause and time of death.”

“Yes, Doctor. Testing in the field places time of death approximately between six-thirty and seven-thirty p.m. Though, the victim was found lying in the snow, so we must allow space for further investigation.”

“Very good.”

I lean over Louisa’s too-tiny body and work hard to keep my fury under control. Placing my thumb over her eyelid, I peel it back and take a peek at her eyes. “Burst blood vessels.” I leave my hand where it is, but lean my body away, to give Aubree space to document. “She struggled. She didn’t go down without a fight.”

“Makes it all so much worse.” Aubree photographs Louisa’s eyes. “Some folks are lucky enough to die in their sleep from an aneurysm they never knew they had. Others fight for their lives and still lose.”

I release Louisa’s eye and lower my search to her nose. “Frost burn just inside her nostrils, around her lips, and inside her mouth.” I take a pair of tweezers from my instrument tray and bring the overhead light closer when I catch a shadow of something.

Gently, I slide the steel inside her left nostril and take out a piece of cloth. Just a miniscule cluster of strands. “Some kind of fiber. Perhaps from a shirt.” I raise the navy-blue strings to see them better in the light. “Could be from her own outfit, or it could be from her attacker’s.” I reach to my right and snag a tiny plastic evidence baggie. “Maybe before her attacker pushed the snow into her mouth and nose, they used their hand or arm to keep her quiet.” I seal the bag and set it on the tray. “If we tie those strands to anyone’s shirt, that will bring our detective friends closer to solving this crime.”

“Not like we don’t already know who did it.”

Pausing, I look up at my self-proclaimed mentee and raise a brow. “That’s an opinion, Doctor Emeri. And in our line of work, you could lose your entire career by having and voicing those opinions. Worse, we might be the difference between convicting an innocent or a guilty man. We must be careful not to let our personal beliefs distort the evidence we find.”

“How can they?” she scowls. “If we find evidence, we find evidence. We didn’t plant it there.”

I reach across and snag the recorder. Stopping it, I show Aubree what I’ve done, then I place my hands on the table and stare deep into her eyes. “We both have an opinion on this one, Emeri. It’s hard not to. She’s a baby, it was violent, and a certain someone on scene got all of our senses tingling. But that’s not evidence, and it’s not fair. If we happen to match the fibers found in her nose to those of the shirt he was wearing, we can consider it closed, and that bastard will go to jail.”

“That’s what I’m trying to say,” she exclaims. “We didn’t put the fibers there. And we didn’t tell the labs to give us a certain answer.”

“No, but what if the fibers belong to the mom’s dress instead? Her apron? What would we say if the fibers belong to one of the sisters?”

Finally, Aubree’s gaze drops as her body deflates. “We’d test and document, but we wouldn’t say that was proof. We’d simply nod and figure sure, she hugged her mom earlier that day and took a deep whiff. It was Mom’s birthday, after all, and her daughters were bound to give her a big cuddle.”

“Exactly.” I push up tall and prepare to switch on the recorder once more. “Our bias affects how we describe each piece of this puzzle. If the fibers belong to him, we’d consider it damning evidence. If the fibers belong to her, we’d brush it off as a hug and move on to the next. That’s why we have to be careful.”

“So if we find they belong to him?” Aubree’s eyes search mine. “If the labs come back positive?”

“Then we add it to the pile, but we don’t convict a man based only on that. I’m gonna hit record again now. Are you ready to resume?”

She takes a moment to compose herself. To take a breath and stand taller. Then, without a word, she nods.

So I hit the button and start again. “This is Doctor Minka Mayet. Chief medical examiner, continuing the autopsy of Louisa Thoma. Moving down to her neck now. We have definite bruising where her attacker held her down. Three finger marks, and a partial fourth, on the right side. Thumb bruise on the left.”

“Implies perpetrator is right-handed,” Aubree murmurs. Not an opinion, but a logical inference. “We could grab the dimensions from those bruises and simulate a rough hand size.”

“Yes we can.” I take my ruler and start taking my measurements. “When this is done, we’ll have everything on a platter for the cops. We do the job, Doctor Emeri. And we give this baby peace.”

* * *

After spending hours with Aubree and Louisa last night, standing until my body was failing, searching for evidence until my eyes turned blurry and refused to stay open, Aubree and I stumbled into a cab around two and somehow made it back to my apartment.

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