down the age of the skeletal remains themselves.”
Barnes and Andrews exchanged a glance. “What about radiocarbon dating?” the deputy demanded.
“That’s time-consuming, expensive, and would only give you a calibration date specific to a century.” Cait shook her head. “Since we’re not dealing with archeological remains, that’s unnecessary. I can tell you with a great deal of certainty that at least one of these victims died within the last year to eighteen months.”
“Holy shit.” Barnes breathed the words, his eyes sliding shut for a moment.
Andrews stopped in the act of putting away her handkerchief. And the leap of glee to her expression made Cait more than a little uneasy. “How can you be sure? You just got done saying aging the remains would be tricky.”
Motioning for the others to follow her, Cait strode to stand between the third and fourth stainless steel gurneys. “See the difference in the bone color between these two sets of remains? Male G’s bones have a waxy, almost yellowish cast. That means they’re fresher, for want of a better word.” She indicated the remains on the next table. “When the bones dry out more they become whiter.”
“Cause of death?” Andrews’s voice was sharp with excitement.
She hesitated, unwilling to relay what was really only a suspicion at this point. “Undetermined as yet. On the one hand we have no fresh fractures to the arms or fingers, which would indicate defensive wounds. But my initial conclusion is that the deaths were unnatural, although there is little hard evidence of that at this point.”
“If there’s little evidence, how can you be sure?” Barnes’s tone was curious. He’d started growing a mustache since the last time Cait had seen him. She wondered if it was a personal choice, or if he’d been keeping hours as late as her own and had cut down on shaving.
“Process of elimination.” From the corner of her eye she saw Kristy move to the back counter and begin to assemble the copies of their test results in two folders, one each for Andrews and Barnes. “The method of disposal is suspicious in and of itself. It’s highly possible that a death wound was sustained to the skull. As such, we wouldn’t be able to answer that question unless and until we recover the craniums. We can be sure there is no evidence of blunt-force trauma, wounds from bullets or knives to the bodies. Discovering whether poison might have been used is a long shot. That tends to show up in hair, nails, and skin. But there’s a possibility that cause of death may be broken neck. Several of the remains show a fracture of one or more of the cervical vertebra.”
“That could be evidence of a fall,” Andrews pointed out. “And if those bags were just dumped in that cave, the injury could have occurred upon contact with the cave floor.”
“Maybe if we saw that with one set of remains. But for all of them . . .” She rounded the gurney to stand opposite Andrews. “If you look here”—she indicated the cervical vertebrae—“you’ll see breakage between vertebrae three and four. The separation marks occur on most samples around vertebra one or two, although two of the individuals had their skulls separated at a slightly lower juncture. But all have this fracture in nearly identical spots. Can I tell you with complete certainty whether the injury occurred posthumously or if, in fact, it caused death?” She lifted a shoulder. “No. But I find it suspicious.”
“The way I see it, we’re still a ways from determining violent death,” Barnes said mildly. Intercepting Andrews’s look, he held up a hand as if to stem her response. “I’m just saying this is pretty inconclusive at this point.”
“If you mean we need to continue our examination for definitive evidence, agreed,” Cait said. “But I want you to look closely at these specimens and tell me what you see?”
The man looked wary. “I see bones. What am I supposed to
Barnes and Andrews exchanged a glance. “What about radiocarbon dating?” the deputy demanded.
“That’s time-consuming, expensive, and would only give you a calibration date specific to a century.” Cait shook her head. “Since we’re not dealing with archeological remains, that’s unnecessary. I can tell you with a great deal of certainty that at least one of these victims died within the last year to eighteen months.”
“Holy shit.” Barnes breathed the words, his eyes sliding shut for a moment.
Andrews stopped in the act of putting away her handkerchief. And the leap of glee to her expression made Cait more than a little uneasy. “How can you be sure? You just got done saying aging the remains would be tricky.”
Motioning for the others to follow her, Cait strode to stand between the third and fourth stainless steel gurneys. “See the difference in the bone color between these two sets of remains? Male G’s bones have a waxy, almost yellowish cast. That means they’re fresher, for want of a better word.” She indicated the remains on the next table. “When the bones dry out more they become whiter.”
“Cause of death?” Andrews’s voice was sharp with excitement.
She hesitated, unwilling to relay what was really only a suspicion at this point. “Undetermined as yet. On the one hand we have no fresh fractures to the arms or fingers, which would indicate defensive wounds. But my initial conclusion is that the deaths were unnatural, although there is little hard evidence of that at this point.”
“If there’s little evidence, how can you be sure?” Barnes’s tone was curious. He’d started growing a mustache since the last time Cait had seen him. She wondered if it was a personal choice, or if he’d been keeping hours as late as her own and had cut down on shaving.
“Process of elimination.” From the corner of her eye she saw Kristy move to the back counter and begin to assemble the copies of their test results in two folders, one each for Andrews and Barnes. “The method of disposal is suspicious in and of itself. It’s highly possible that a death wound was sustained to the skull. As such, we wouldn’t be able to answer that question unless and until we recover the craniums. We can be sure there is no evidence of blunt-force trauma, wounds from bullets or knives to the bodies. Discovering whether poison might have been used is a long shot. That tends to show up in hair, nails, and skin. But there’s a possibility that cause of death may be broken neck. Several of the remains show a fracture of one or more of the cervical vertebra.”
“That could be evidence of a fall,” Andrews pointed out. “And if those bags were just dumped in that cave, the injury could have occurred upon contact with the cave floor.”
“Maybe if we saw that with one set of remains. But for all of them . . .” She rounded the gurney to stand opposite Andrews. “If you look here”—she indicated the cervical vertebrae—“you’ll see breakage between vertebrae three and four. The separation marks occur on most samples around vertebra one or two, although two of the individuals had their skulls separated at a slightly lower juncture. But all have this fracture in nearly identical spots. Can I tell you with complete certainty whether the injury occurred posthumously or if, in fact, it caused death?” She lifted a shoulder. “No. But I find it suspicious.”
“The way I see it, we’re still a ways from determining violent death,” Barnes said mildly. Intercepting Andrews’s look, he held up a hand as if to stem her response. “I’m just saying this is pretty inconclusive at this point.”
“If you mean we need to continue our examination for definitive evidence, agreed,” Cait said. “But I want you to look closely at these specimens and tell me what you see?”
The man looked wary. “I see bones. What am I supposed to
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