Wounded-Ex

"Well, I will need to examine the body at the morgue to give you something more solid. But from the little I gathered, she got no bruises, and no lacerations. She's got a nasty pink scar running up the forearm. From the look of it, the injury had happened within the last four to six months." He said showing off the few pictures he was able to take with a cellphone. A long scrape was at the base of her spine, the skin was broken, but not enough to bleed.

As they scanned through the images, Ignas touched Jeff's hands preventing him from scrolling to the next image.

"This scar on her arm, did she intentionally do it to herself?"

Jeff looked at the victim's arm, "Maybe, it does look recent. Maybe a few hours old. I can't confirm that without taking a second look." He said. "But, my best guess is it was deliberate, it looks so. It went straight up the radial artery. She would've been taken to the hospital for that if found on time." Except for the line of blood dribbling from her nose and pooling around her lips, there is really nothing I can add." He said. "What have your team got?"

"Well, nothing solid yet. We'll need to analyse some of the items found at the scene. The clearing she was found, it was used to dump concretes and gravel for the Bramhills federal road construction last year. There are still lots of big gravel and stones out there." She told him. "But we do feel like it's a case of suicide. No forceful pulling, no fight, absolutely nothing. She seem to have grazed her artery and waited out to die." Ignas said, and Jeff nodded slowly.

"Who is she, the dead lady?"

"Felicia Lowen. At least that is what her ID read."

"Lowen, as in the Lowen of Bramhills?" Jeff asked.

"Yes, my partner confirmed that it's the very same Lowen."

"Ignas, the Lowens live in the capital. She is from a family of great wealth. Why would she kill herself and why do it at a small town like Cherim? How did she get to Cherim, who drove her?"

"She was putting on gym outfits." Ignas said rubbing her head.

"And you think she could jog all the way from the capital to Cherim just to kill herself?"

"I don't know Jeff. We've got nothing suggesting otherwise. Even at the scene, there was really nothing unusual."

"Who found her?"

"The young daughter of a farmer. She was on her way to the farm." Ignas told him. She paused and studied Jeff closely. "I know that look, we've worked together on several cases and I recognize the look. Jeff, what aren't you saying?"

Jeff paused, not knowing how to articulate his feelings. "Something about it doesn't feel right." He swiped to an image of Felicia Lowen's face, then looked back at Ignas. "The scrape at the back, why would she have it?"

Ignas suggested, "From the impact of the gravel or stones."

"What sort of gravel would give her such a scrape? Unless the fall was as a result of an external force, like someone pushing her forcefully, or throwing her down from a great height. But, If she intentionally cut herself to death, the scrape shouldn't be there, because the force of fall wouldn't be too heavy."

A moment of silence followed, as Ignas rubbed her forehead. "Someone must have dropped her off." She said absentmindedly. "Her sneakers were neat and didn't look like she jogged for several kilometers. Look Jeff, I don't know. I'll see what my team finds out." She said.

"Damn," Jeff said, "you look so good whenever you seem engrossed with work."

"Jeff.... Stop it." She said, faking a sweet smile.

"If the family signs for an autopsy, then I'll definitely give you something more tangible. But this is all I've got for now."

"It was more than enough. Thank you so much." She said, standing up. "Hopefully, our busy life will permit us to grab lunch sometime." She winked.

"I'm taking you up on that offer tomorrow. Let's have lunch tomorrow, shall we?" He asked.

"Sure. Just two colleagues having lunch right?"

"Right." He nodded with a sweet smile.

Ignas left the office and met Clara still seated outside, waiting for her.

Clara stood up immediately she saw her. "Ignas, is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course. Let's go." She replied leading the way back to the hospital reception.

Detective George was seen with a man Ignas recognized immediately as Bennet Lowen. "Go seat at the reception, I'll meet you there." She said to Clara. Once she left, the older woman walked up to George. "Detective, is everything okay?" She asked.

"Hello," Bennet said. "I'm Bennet Lowen, Felicia's husband, and that over there," he pointed to a little girl standing with a lady. The child looked nothing above 4-5years old, "that is Isabella, our daughter." He concluded.