A Final Forensic Exam (part 2)

Posted on Sat Nov 1st, 2014 @ 6:04am by Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Senior Chief Petty Officer Helga (Hel) Lowe & Lieutenant Ilse Frost & Lieutenant Roberta Andrews & Lieutenant Verdeath Newmark & Admiral Maximilian 'Max' Hunter
Edited on on Sat Nov 1st, 2014 @ 6:18am

966 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Deadly Diplomacy

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

"Thats not a fact, its an established guess, Lieutenant." Max replied in a firm tone, almost angry. "I have seen female's from many of species who have enough upper body strength to do the same kind of damage with minimal effort. A Vulcan. A Klingon." He paused for a moment to looked around before focusing on Roberta. "She could, for example, given the right amount of training. She has both the upper body strength and height to pull off something almost similar." He looked back to Newmark. "You find me sufficient proof. Hard Evidence." He gave him a stern look before looking back to the body.

[NEW]


Andrews felt her arms flex a bit. "So, I'm just some big gal that can whop a guy?" She thought to herself. She actually felt a bit hurt.

"That's a good point," Jayna said in answer to Max's comment. "We can't assume it has to be male. Any well-trained female could do the damage indicated. If my sister used a blade instead of a staff, she could do it and she doesn't look like a fighter."

"As you have pointed out is correct I admit I was going by the statistics I was trained under.' He nodded. "I stand corrected, please accept my apologies, I will be more generic in the future." He looked to the doctor. "These wounds were from a swordsmanship that is rare, the poise needed for this precision..." Newmark stopped and looked to his Department chief. "Doctor Frost, would you agree this wound has unusual aspects?"

Newmark wanted the opinion of his superior Officer on the wound; the placement was very skillful and the fact the blade was thrust and removed showed the skill level but the wound also had an oddity. The tearing of the tissue showed a more ripping than cutting to it, like a scalpel that might need sanitizing or sharpening for the finer cuts.

Frost glanced up "It does, it was made with a weapon that was a bit dull and there was a chemical used to clean that weapon as residue remained. Do you have that lab report Lieutenant Andrews or was it given to the Nurse?" Frost turned to first look at Andrews and then at Helga

Andrews turned to Frost. "Alcohol was used to 'clean' the murder weapon. There some spatters on the floor by the body; tests showed residue of alcohol. It would *appear* that the murderer used his *or* her weapon, than wiped it clean." Andrews looked puzzled. "Has anyone thought of the weapon might haveing been maybe a pair of scissors? That *might* explain the dullness on the wound."

Jayna wasn't quite sure what to say to that. She'd worked with security to examine the weapon. It hadn't been honed in a while, but it was sharp enough to kill quickly and efficiently. The alcohol didn't make sense, either. "It was a sword. Andorian. It was left in the body of the third victim," she said. Why would someone spatter alcohol on the floor when the three kills were quick and efficient and the blade was left in the third victim? There was no time to stop and clean a weapon in the middle of a killing spree and with the sword left in the third victim, cleaning would have been less than effective."

Andrews shook her head and blinked. "You're right... I don't know why I mentioned that, my apologies."

Frost spoke up "Chances are they didn't stop to clean the blade amidst their killing spree, as you called it Lieutenant Mira. I venture to guess that the blade was cleaned prior to that with the chemical sample that was sent to the lab. The residue was a remainder from that which makes much more sense does it not?" The doctor turned and met the other woman's eyes. "Since the intelligence department has had this weapon in their possession since the beginning I would have thought that your department would have run your own tests and studies on any residue or chemicals found on the weapon along with how sharp the weapon was. Am I correct?"

"It was removed by security," Jayna said. "Intel received it after security ran their tests."

Hunter, whose eyes were still locked onto the body, spoke up in a firm voice. "You venturing to many guesses, Doctor. Allow me to give a fact for you. The cleaning of the blade is not just and maintenance thing, its almost ceremonial. I know because I have seen it done before. And leaving it behind would never happen. The weapon that was left behind was on purpose and I happen to know, for a fact, that the weapon in question is far too valuable to be left behind."

He raised the PADD slightly and input the code to open it. From the way he was standing, it was difficult to see what he was looking at, but to Max it was a sign of Damion's innocence. He looked from the body on the table, to the file, then back to the body as he placed the PADD against his body to shield its contents from everyone else's view.

Jayna just raised an eyebrow at Hunter and turned back to the forensic exam.

"Well then what is the residue?" Frost asked

"Your report said alcohol," Jayna replied blandly.

"Actually my report said unknown residue, slightly oily in texture" Frost said as she turned back to watch the exam and then continued "It was sent to the the lab for analysis among others."

(To be continued...)

Admiral Maximilian Hunter
Starfleet Intelligence - Black Ops

Lieutenant Roberta Andrews
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Verdeath Newmark
Assistant Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Ilse Frost
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Mira Jayna
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer

 

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