The Cleansing Flames by R. N. Morris Page A

the doctor’s tone. ‘As I understand it, Porfiry Petrovich, the law merely requires that they sign the papers affirming that they have presented themselves here today in the capacity of official witnesses. I took the precaution of having them complete that minor administrative detail before uncovering the body.’
    ‘And then you promptly scared them off.’
    ‘Scared them off? Do you really think so?’
    ‘Don’t play the innocent with me.’
    ‘I was only trying to demonstrate to them that the adipocere was the source of the rank smell that they had themselves commented on. I told them it was adipocere, but they looked at me blankly. So I had Valentin Bogdanovich scoop some out on a spatula and offer it to them.’
    As if to confirm the doctor’s account, the diener thrust out a wooden spatula towards Porfiry. On the end of it was a small mound of something soft and white.
    ‘Adipocere is the most interesting substance,’ continued Dr Pervoyedov, as Porfiry leant forward gingerly and inhaled. ‘Many writers, the Englishman Taylor for instance, describe its odour as highly offensive. And yet, I wonder, if you did not know that it had been taken from a corpse, would you necessarily be repelled by the smell? It’s an interesting question, is it not, Porfiry Petrovich?’
    ‘There is no question about it,’ said Porfiry, screwing up his face. ‘It is a disgusting smell. Unequivocally.’
    ‘ Un -equivocally, you say? But what do you make of Casper, a German, and one of the foremost authorities of forensic medicine, who, I believe, rather likes the smell. By no means disagreeable , are his words – if memory serves me right. A little cheesy, but by no means disagreeable, is how he describes it.’
    ‘I would say that Dr Casper has become too habituated to the smells of the charnel house.’
    ‘Perhaps! That is certainly possible.’ Dr Pervoyedov chuckled, as if at a private joke. ‘I myself incline to Casper’s view,’ he admitted shyly.
    ‘Then the same may be said of you,’ commented Porfiry.
    ‘But is it really soap ?’ asked Virginsky abruptly, having also sniffed at the sample on the diener ’s spatula.
    ‘Yes. Soap. Ammoniacal or, sometimes, calcareous soap. In the case of the latter, it is thought that the body first forms ammoniacal soap and that this is subsequently further converted by the presence of lime. But, yes, soap, of one form or another. The process by which the body is converted to adipocere is known as saponification.’
    ‘Could you wash yourself with it?’ wondered Virginsky. He looked down at the face of the unknown man on the trestle table. Two glistening white patches showed where his cheeks once were. ‘He is turning into a bar of soap.’
    ‘He was . Since he has been taken out of the water and dried out somewhat, the process has stopped.’ Dr Pervoyedov took a spatula of his own and prodded gently at one of the white cheeks. ‘You will notice too that the adipocere on his face has hardened, due to its exposure to air.’
    ‘How long does it take for a body to be completely converted to adipocere?’ asked Porfiry.
    ‘In the case of an adult body totally immersed in water, about a year.’
    ‘And so, from the degree of saponification, you will be able to calculate how long he has been in the canal – giving us an approximate date of death?’
    ‘Approximate, very approximate. One may not set one’s watch by adipocere. It is an erratic and inconsistent material. It has no organic structure, you know. How it behaves in one case, on one body, may not necessarily be repeated in another.’
    ‘And as for cause of death?’ asked Porfiry, a little impatiently. ‘Do you have any opinions pertaining to that?’
    ‘All in good time, Porfiry Petrovich. We have not even commenced the examination. I have been waiting for you, you know.’
    ‘You did not wait for me before you started dishing out mortuary wax.’
    ‘I assure you that there is more than enough to go