Corpse

"Dwayne Mills, a middle aged man with a long crime history, well he's been found, not alive but dead, never been imprisoned before and from his mother's testimony he has always had a thing with weird creatures and drawings, documentaries too."

"His mother also mentioned that as a little boy, he never spoke about what he wanted to be when he grew up, he went to college but he never went back home and also never graduated."

"He lived in a small house, and his victims are locked up in his basement, the bodies are kept there too, pretty dumb huh?"

The detectives under inspector Dyson submitted their findings, the person that had been found now was a middle aged serial killer.

It had been two days since Elizabeth got that message from a mysterious man, and it has been two days since she last saw that drunk man. She was partially worried about that and partially worried that Vans was still annoyed with her.

"But he was found dead yesterday, washed out from a river, the body was identified to be Dwayne Mills."

Elizabeth turned to the detective, who was speaking, his words finally managed to draw her attention.

"We haven't conducted an autopsy yet but the chances of his death being caused by drowning is high."

Elizabeth frowned when he uttered those words, "Why wasn't an autopsy conducted immediately?"

"Well, that…" The detective pressed his lips into a thin line, thinking of a reasonable excuse to give.

"Let's go now, I want to see the body." Dyson finally spoke up, he glanced alternatively between Elizabeth and the detective. 

"Yes, Sir. This way please." Another detective stood up and gestured for Dyson to follow him.

Dyson nodded at the detective, he stood and walked to the door but stopped and turned around, "Are you coming?" He asked Elizabeth.

"...Yes." Elizabeth replied, she got up and followed after them.

It wasn't long before they got to the morgue. In the morgue, the atmosphere was chilled, and the faint scent of disinfectants lingered in the air. The room was well-lit, with a row of stainless steel tables in the centre. At one of these tables lay the body of Dwayne Mills, covered by a white sheet, except for his face.

Detective Dyson and Elizabeth approached the table. The sheet was pulled back to reveal Dwayne's face, which appeared pale and lifeless. His eyes were closed, and his features were still, giving him an eerie, almost peaceful appearance.

A forensic pathologist was nearby, ready to conduct the autopsy, but they paused as the detective and Elizabeth arrived. Dyson turned to the pathologist, "We need to find out the cause of death as soon as possible."

The pathologist nodded and began to prepare for the examination. Gloved hands carefully began the process, documenting any potential signs of struggle or trauma on the body. The room was filled with the sounds of instruments and the occasional whispered conversation between the detectives and the pathologist.

Elizabeth examined the body with her eyes, and that was when she noticed the bump on his forehead. After that, a lot of things now looked familiar, even his half bald hair was just like that of the man she saw in her trunk the previous night, she took some a few steps back but stopped. She knew fully well that Dyson would be suspicious if she acted unusually.

With a pounding heart, she picked up the hand gloves that were on the table and wore it with shaky hands.

"Inspector Elizabeth." Dyson called when he noticed her actions.

"I want to examine the body." She gave a brief reply and walked towards the body.

"I never knew you studied forensics." Dyson smirked, he leaned on the wall and crossed his arms.

"..."

Elizabeth simply ignored him and joined the pathologist in examining the body, though she only did little things to help while making sure there was no clue of her involvement, even anything as tiny as fingernail marks.

 The forensic pathologist meticulously examines Dwayne Mills' body, carefully documenting his findings. The room is silent except for the sound of medical instruments and the soft hum of fluorescent lights.

"Well, it appears that the cause of death in this case is drowning." The forensic pathologist turned to Dyson and informed.

Dyson and Elizabeth exchange glances, their expressions showing a mix of relief and curiosity for some reason.

Dyson stood properly and walked to the pathologist, "Mind explaining further?"

The pathologist, who seemed to be the head, continued to explain as they worked, "Certainly. The most telling evidence is the presence of water in the victim's lungs, which is a clear indication of death by drowning. Additionally, I can see signs of pulmonary edema, which is consistent with water inhalation."

Elizabeth's heart sank as she listened to the pathologist's words, realising that Dwayne's cause of death aligns with the apparent drowning scenario. She knew that she had no hand in his death but the police won't think the same if they saw that video or finds out that the man was last seen in her car.

Dyson was sceptical as he continued to ask, "Are there any other findings that stand out?"

The pathologist furrows his brow slightly and slowly replies, "Well, there's one unusual aspect. I noticed a bump on the victim's forehead, which may have occurred prior to his drowning. It's not something typically associated with drowning cases."

Elizabeth's heart thumped when she heard those words, she backed away and glanced at Dyson, whose attention was on the body and the pathologist.

Dyson frowned and raised an eyebrow, "A bump, you say? Could it be related to the drowning?"

The forensic pathologist appeared to be pensive as he answered Dyson's questions, "It's hard to say at this point. It might be worth investigating further to determine if there was any foul play involved. The bump in his forehead could have rendered the victim unconscious before he ended up in the water."

Dyson nodded, his suspicion growing.

Though he was still suspicious, he was at the same time resolute, "Thank you." He took one last glance at the body then stopped. His eyes lingered on the body's neck before he leaned towards it.

Elizabeth moved towards the body too, her gaze landed on the man's neck and there, something that was so small that it could be ignored but still, it was visible.

Two dots on his neck that appeared to be holes as Elizabeth moved further, she peered more closely and finally figured out what it was, there were two holes that appeared to be purplish in colour in deep contrast to the body's paleness.

"Inspector." Elizabeth called in a whisper and Dyson nodded in reply, "Yeah, I see it too."

They exchanged glances, seemingly the first time they ever agreed on something.

"Doctor, what's this?" Elizabeth called the pathologist who was about to leave and pointed at the purple marks.

"I noticed that too. It seems to be a bite by a fanged animal but there was no poison found in his body, so I assumed it was not necessary to inform." The forensic pathologist shrugged calmly.

"You assumed?" Dyson gritted his teeth, veins bulge from his forehead out of anger.

"Inspector Dyson." Elizabeth quickly called to calm the raging inspector down.

"You just have one f**king job to do and you assume?" He pointed at the pathologist. For some reason, Dyson who never got angry was now raging, Elizabeth frowned and ordered the pathologist to leave first.

"It's fine, it was just a small mistake." She muttered to calm Dyson down but he merely glared at her and left the morgue angrily.

"Tsk." Elizabeth clicked her tongue, she took one last glance at the body before leaving the room.