Satah Hall-Chapter 3

The post-mortem examination had been carried out with great difficulty. In the end, as the body was crumbling when they lifted it, the exam was carried out where the body lay, hence why it was still there. It was now Sunday evening. The body was found in the early hours of the Sunday, the incident having occurred on the Saturday night. The corpse was de-composing rapidly of the course of the day which confused the forensic experts. When Wood received the results, he took them straight back to his office, where he could assess them without interruptions. In his office, he slumped into his chair and sighed. Hopefully after some more tests, they'd at least have some suspects. They needed to talk to the victim's family, too... When they found her identity. He picked up the brown envelope and neatly unsealed it, pulling out the crisp, white paper which he relying on for providing answers. It started of by listing the injuries; partially fractured skull, caused by a steel-toe capped boot, multiple stab wounds to the chest and neck and finally, first-degree burns to 70% of the body. Wood already knew about this however was intrigued by the affixiated notes at the foot of the page. 'Victim also had high levels of alcohol, pain-killers, anti-depressants and other damaging substances in her circulatory system'. Now there was something he didn't know before...
By Monday morning, he was awaiting DNA tests to reveal the identity of the murdered woman. He had stayed up working late into the night and fell straight asleep when he arrived home.
Tomorrow was a step forward. By mid-afternoon he'd know the name of the victim and be on his way to speak to the family.