January 16
"Easy, you're coming down too fast." Nova reached over and helped Hans adjust the stick. "That's better." She pulled her hand away, but kept her eye on the gauges, and the ground below. "Thirty feet," she called out, "twenty feet, fifteen, ten, six, three, you're on the ground. Nicely done."
Hans shut down the motor an leaned back in his seat, heaving a sigh of relief. "You were great." reassured Nova. "And look," she pointed out the window, "the body's only 50 feet away. Accuracy is a plus; we don't want to hike around in this heat."
They took their shades and a body bag and left the helicopter, walking slowly towards Squanto. She was lying face down on the ground, as John had left her, but her clothes hung loosely on her emaciated frame. Hans took pictures from every angle, his camera in one hand and the shade in the other. "Ok," he called out, I think she's ready for transport. Do we know anything about her?"
"Not a thing." replied Nova. "Somebody spotted the body yesterday and called the station. Nobody is reported missing. We'll probably have to wait for the dna scan." She turned the body over and studied the dried leathery skin of the face and arms. It was cracked in several places, but there was no liquid inside, only a deep brown stain where blood had seeped out in the past. "I think she's been here for months." concluded Nova.
Hans lifted the head and shoulders and slid the body bag beneath. "I could almost pick her up with one arm." he exclaimed. "Did she starve to death?"
"Not likely. The sun and the heat have driven most of the water from her body, and remember, we're about 60% water. Besides, she was a small woman to begin with."
Hans finished bagging the body and draped it over his shoulder. "Grab my shade, would you?"
Nova picked up the second shade as they walked back to the helicopter. "Another nice thing you'll notice, there's virtually no smell. The tissues dry out before decomposition can begin."
Hans put the body in the back, then climbed into the driver's seat. "Ready to fly again?" asked Nova.
"Sure." He started the motor and moved the joystick forward. The obedient helicopter followed his command, rising high into the sky. they flew back to the station and landed in the heliport. Hans cut the motor as the roof closed overhead.
A policeman came out to meet them. "Need any help?" he offered as Nova climbed out of the cab.
"Don't think so. The body's pretty light."
"Ok. Room 3 is available in pathology." The policeman walked away as Nova lifted the body out of the trunk. Hans shut down the copter and closed the doors. "You gonna hike the body all the way to pathology?" he asked.
"Sure. You said it yourself, it's pretty light." They entered the station proper and walked down one hallway, and then another, then turned into room 3. Nova opened the bag and laid the body out on the table. She put the bag in the corner and came back with a tray of equipment. "All right, let's see what we got, starting with her identity." Nova took out a tiny drill and explained the procedure. "In these cases, most of the dna is degraded. You have to go down deep; the center of an internal organ, or the cells of the bone marrow. Personally I prefer the latter." She drilled a hole in the hip bone and pulled some liquid up into her syringe. A few minutes later the analysis was complete. Hans read the report.
"Viable dna. X X female. Identity unknown. No genetic disorders. Seventeen genetic predispositions, as listed below. Eleven physical traits, as listed below." Hans looked up from the report. "What does that mean, identity unknown?"
"It means she's a nonperson, probably with the underground. I've only seen this once before. They manage to evade the dna database completely, despite the best efforts of our government. Sometimes I think the government's involved. And sometimes I don't know what to think. As I say, it's very rare. You'll probably see one or two in your entire career, and that's about it. One thing's sure, if it was murder, we probably won't be able to crack the case. The killer is, I'm willing to bet, another member of the underground, and untraceable."
Hans lifted one arm and palpated the biceps and triceps. The muscles were stiff and thin, like strips of human jerky hidden beneath leathery skin. "You think she was murdered?"
"Sure." replied Nova. "That's a great place to dump a body, at least in the summer, and why else would anybody be there?"
Hans looked at Squanto's face, her eyes sunken to one fifth their original size. They seemed to swim about in their sockets, attached only by a thread. The tongue was thin and flat, with the shape of a potato chip. Hans moved the tip and found it somewhat pliable, another piece of dried meat.
"Look at this." commented Nova as she pulled out the heart. "You can see a bit of decay here. There's still a little moisture left inside." Putrid slime dripped off the surface of the heart, while blood, as thick as molasses, oozed from the severed arteries and veins. "You'll also find some decay in the brain and abdomen, but that's about it."
"Cause of death?" Hans inquired.
"Nothing obvious, but I'm still looking. She was probably killed with toxins, rather than blunt trauma, and after several weeks in the sun, I don't think the tox screen is going to find anything. But we'll run the tests anyways; you never know."
Nova spotted the cut on Squanto's neck, where the pellet had been injected, but the breech had split into a crack, and it looked just like the other cracks in the dried skin. If the pellet had remained in place Nova certainly would have noticed it, but it fell out onto the scorched earth long ago, lost forever among the tiny rocks and pebbles that formed the bottom of the desiccated pond.
Nova stood up and spoke into her recorder. "Cause of death, unknown. Identity unknown. Probable categorization, murder. Case disposition, unresolved and closed."
She turned off the recorder, bringing the autopsy to an end. "We can't incinerate the body," stated Hans, "since you just declared it a murder."
"Right. The body is evidence, and we have to keep it in deep freeze for 30 years. It's the law. I suppose I should have saved the taxpayers some money and called it an accident, as these underground murders are rarely solved, but that's just not my way. Who knows; we might stumble upon a crucial piece of evidence someday, and crack the case. Meantime, into the morgue she goes."
They washed up and walked to the commissioner's office, where Nova reported her findings.
"A nonperson eh? We don't get many of those." He looked at the two of them, then back to his console on the desk. "You've filed your report?"
"Yes."
"Ok, I'll read it tomorrow. It's getting late, and I'm about ready to call it a day." He glanced at the clock. "Why don't you do the same; not much else happening around here today. Sergeant Thompson will take the body over to the morgue and catalog it."
"Thank you." said Nova and Hans in unison, as they stepped out into the hallway. They walked to the main entrance and called for separate cars. "Another day, another leppa." said Nova, and Hans merely nodded.