A Guilty Mind by K.L. Murphy Page B

His face came close to hers.
    â€œYes.” Kate held his gaze and he stood up again. “If we assume the single wound was first, the victim was most likely standing. That wound is higher on the back and might have killed him eventually. But the other two sped up the process. The internal bleeding after the organ damage was fatal.”
    Staring at her, his fingers twitched. “Where are you going with this, Kate?”
    She smiled. “Direct as ever, aren’t you, Detective?” She came around the desk and stood directly behind him. She touched the middle of his back, her tone authoritative. “Here’s where the solitary wound was located.” Then, raising her arm slowly, a pen clutched in her hand, she paused for a split second before she finished with a quick stabbing motion. She touched his back again. “Is this the same spot, the one where the victim was stabbed?”
    Intrigued, he shook his head. “No, that one was higher.”
    â€œRight. Now bend forward like before.” Again she pointed out the placement of the stab wounds on the therapist, then pretended to knife him twice more before asking him to compare the simulated locations. “Do you see the difference?”
    He straightened and faced the medical examiner. “All the wounds on the victim were higher than yours on me.”
    â€œDo you know why?”
    A man of only average height, he stood several inches over the small woman. “I think I do.”
    â€œHow tall are you, Detective?”
    â€œFive-­ten.”
    â€œI’m only five-­two,” she said. “You’ve got a lot of inches on me.”
    Cancini followed her logic. “But our victim had no such height advantage on his killer.”
    â€œThat’s right. Maybe an inch or two. No more. Dr. Michael was six feet and one-­half inch. I think your perp was approximately the same, maybe slightly shorter. It’s possible, of course, that the killer might have made a conscious effort to change their height, so it’s not conclusive. But if they didn’t, based on the angle and placement of the wounds, I’m guessing your killer is in the range of five-­ten to six feet, between your height and the victim’s.” Walking back around the desk, the medical examiner sat and leaned back in her chair. “That’s all I have.”
    He had an approximate height. He knew the perp was right-­handed and used an ordinary butcher knife. It was circumstantial but could prove useful later. “Thanks, Kate. It’s more than I had when I came in here.”
    â€œSure. That’s my job.”
    Cancini, hand on the doorknob, turned back to the woman behind the desk. “Could there be any significance to the number of stab wounds?”
    Twin lines appeared between her brows. “What do you mean?”
    â€œCould the attacker have been angry or crazy maybe?”
    â€œOh.” He watched her face as she made the connection between the idea of an unbalanced act or momentary insanity in the murder of the therapist. “I don’t know, Detective. I’m not an expert at motive.”
    â€œBut you are an expert at forensics. You’ve seen cases where the attacker went a little crazy before. Is this like that?”
    She hesitated. “It’s hard to say. Usually in cases of extreme psychosis or emotion, the killer will stab over and over, long after the person is dead.”
    â€œDr. Michael was only stabbed three times.”
    â€œIt doesn’t fit the norm of extreme psychosis, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t. There is one other thing though.” She pushed her glasses up on her nose. “The victim didn’t suffer long. He died in a matter of minutes. I’d have to say the murderer was quite efficient.”
    â€œEfficient? That doesn’t sound like extreme psychosis at all.”
    â€œProbably not the kind you mean,” she said. “But that