"Hey Doc," Nick greeted Dr Al Robbins as he and Sara entered the morgue. The mummified body was lying out on the metal slab in front of them and Dr Robbins was already started on the autopsy.
"Nick, Sara. Good timing. I have managed to determine cause of death and we are looking at blunt force trauma. Looks like only one hit as there is only one fracture to rear of the skull."
"Anyway to tell what did the damage?" Sara asked while bending over to look at the now skinless skull laid out before them.
"Only that it was heavy enough to crack a skull bone but not sharp enough to actually split the skin. Large bruise on the head indicates she didn't die immediately. Don't want to sound like an old Sherlock Holmes book or anything but I don't suppose there was a lead pipe in the vicinity of the victim?"
Nick looked up at the man and responsed, "'Fraid not. Nothing found that even remotely looked like a weapon. Sent Greg out to keep digging around where the body was found but he just called before to say nothing turned up. I doubted it would."
"Anything that could help us identify her Doc? Could we get viable fingerprints?" Sara asked.
"I have removed the tips of her fingers and have them soaking as we speak. Good thing you came down Sara, need a nice slim hand to slip them on to." Sara screwed up her face as this. One of the least fun things of being a slim fingered female was having to slip on someone else's skin. Nick threw Sara a small smirk. Luckily being of the broad fingered kind he rarely had to go through this little ritual.
"She appears to be in her late teens to early twenties, has not given birth and is about 5 feet 4 inches. Although the hair is a little dull now I would say she was a strawberry blonde. Also found this," Doc indicated that Nick and Sara take look on the hip of the victim.
Faintly they could make out a slight discoloration on her hip. Hard to make out with the skin tone now so brown but it was there. "I've taken some photos and will have them up to you when they are processed."
"What is that?" Nick asked. "Some kind of birth mark?"
"Looks like it. Seems to be shaped like a starfish. That might be handy for trying to ID her on missing persons."
"I'll get the information to Brass." Sara advised. "Anything else you can tell us?"
"Her fingernails were damaged."
"Fighter or biter?" Nick asked.
"Hopefully a fighter. I did a scrapping before soaking them and sent it up to Mia for DNA analysis." He handed the bindle to Nick containing, with any luck, the DNA of her murder.
Nick nodded, "OK, only one thing left to do." He turned to his partner, "Your hand my lady." Nick took Sara by the hand and led her over to the table by the wall where the fingertips had been soaking in a large glass beaker.
Both of them slipped on latex gloves and Nick assisted Sara with the slipping on the first of 10 re-hydrated tips. "Ewwww, I hate this." Nick looked up to see Sara's face screwed up in displeasure. Carefully he took her and hand and gently rolled it on the ink pad and then again on the fingerprint card.
"One down, nine to go."
"Just get it over with please."
Finally finished Sara quickly stripped off her gloves and threw them away in the bio hazard bin near the door. "I need to wash my hands." With that she said a quick goodbye to Doc and headed out the door.
"I'm right; I'll get the rest of the evidence Sara. Don't worry about it," Nick shot at her retreating back. A small wave was her only response.
Collecting up the evidence bags with the blanket and clothing, the DNA bindle and the print cards, Nick said goodbye to the coroner and headed back to the lab after his squeamish partner.