Corporate Mystery II: The Locked Room Part I, Solution
"This man was murdered!"
“Quiet lad, we don’t needs ta be awak’n the whole city with the news now.”
With this, Denning pulled Robert aside to allow the Coroner, Dr. Wells, to enter the room.
“Careful Doc. “ cautioned Denning “there’s some spots on the floor ye might want ta be avoid’n.”
Glancing down, the Doctor nodded and carefully avoided the spots on the floor, walking towards the desk and Mr. Doyle’s body.
“Hmmmm…. Yes, I see, “ muttered Wells.
“The hell ye say Wells. Damnit mon, speak up!”, Denning exasperated.
“It’s obvious this man has been stabbed Constable.”
“Of curse the mon has been stabbed damn ye! It dinna take us long ta figure that. “What can ye tell us thet we din’t know? Surly that tiny poke wasn’t enuff.”
“That is where you’re wrong Constable. See here… look at the man’s chest and abdomen. How tight they are? I would venture that this man bled to death internally. There being no other evidence of bruising front or back…. but wait, this may be something.”
“Get on with it Doc, what the hell do ye see now?”
“Look here Denning, just below the ribs, some discoloration in a thin line just below the skin… and here, it’s in a direct line with the original puncture. Hmmm… let me look again at that. Yes Denning, it looks as if your man was killed by a long thin blade of some sort, driven from above at an angle through his body from his right to left. By the angle I would say it avoided most of the larger arteries, but for the corner of a lung, then pierced the heart!”
“The hell ye say Doc! That accounts for there not bein much blood then.”
“Yes Constable, you see, the entry wound was small and most of the damage was done inside the body and avoided major arteries until it reached the heart. Once the heart stopped there was little pressure to force blood through such a small wound. He may have choked and coughed once or twice in the instants before he died which may account for the blood in his mouth. I won’t know for certain until I have him on my table, but I am fairly certain on those points at this time.”
“Hmmmm… coughed ye say Doctor? Could thet account for the blood on the floor yander?”
Examining the indicated trail of blood, Wells nodded, “Yes Denning, I would say it’s quite possible this man was stabbed at or near the door, reeled back coughing, and fell dying into his chair. See here the larger drops near the door, then smaller near the chair. His heart and lungs had nearly stopped at that point, his body merely going on his momentum backwards towards the chair.”
As Denning stood pondering and muttering to himself, Robert walked carefully back the few feet to the door, tracing the blood spatter on the floor with his eyes. It seemed to him that the blood trail was more to the right side of the doorway, although scattered as it was, it was difficult to be certain. The spatter stopped, or rather didn’t start, until a foot or so from the door itself. “Yes, the door, “ he thought.