1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 191 Retrieving the Corpse
Theodore answered the last question first:
"The arsonist will definitely continue to set fires, and as time goes on, he will become more and more impatient."

"For him, it was like a withdrawal reaction."

Then comes the second question.

He looked at the bald firefighter:

"If I don't have the arsonist's past arson history, then I'll keep looking."

“The methods of any repeat offender are constantly adjusted in practice. If they cannot be found in the fire accident investigation reports within the past three years, then we continue to push back.”

"We'll definitely be able to take him down when he's still a greenhorn."

Bernie stared intently at him, then suddenly chuckled twice.

Pushing forward means Theodore will have to profile more people.

And you still say it's not magic!

He even made up his mind to turn the apartment upside down tonight and find Theodore's crystal ball.

Theodore glanced at Bernie, somewhat worried.

He hopes Bernie's IQ will return to its peak as soon as possible, or at least be at an average level.

This trough was really quite frightening.

He answered Detective O'Malley's first question:
"If the arsonist continues to burn living bodies, the suspects can be narrowed down simply by cross-referencing the social relationships of the two victims."

Billy Hawke looked at the bald firefighter and asked Theodore:
"Should we now review all the fires that started from the time the incident occurred?"

The bald firefighter had just finished copying notes when he overheard this.

He looked up, his eyes wide, staring at Theodore in shock.

Theodore nodded approvingly at Billy Hawke:

"Yes."

…………

5 month 5 day.

Alan Shepard became Emily's first astronaut to fly into space.

This was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Emily, whose morale had plummeted to rock bottom.

Although Alan Shepard only flew in the air, while Gagarin flew directly around the ground, the two are not comparable at all.

But at least from a technical standpoint, Emilyka could still see the shadow of the Soviet Union, unlike before when one was underground and the other was in the sky, with a gap so large that it made people question life itself.

09:49 am.
Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 spacecraft landed safely.

As the control center issued the command, "Splash confirmed! Repeat, Freedom 7 has hit the water!", Emily was overjoyed.

More than 1.35 million people in the United States watched the live broadcast of this spaceflight experiment on television, and at least 3.5 million people worldwide listened to the simultaneous broadcast by international radio stations such as the BBC.

The streets were once again filled with the sound of car horns, and church bells rang in the distance.

Cheers filled every corner of the city.

But the cheers didn't extend to the rocky area downstream of the King Street Pier on the Anacastia River.

Just as Alan Shepard took to the air, river cleaners discovered a body here.

The body was lying face down, wedged between the rocks, with two brass-buckled straps around its waist. Its upper body was covered with scraps of blue and white striped cloth, and it was carrying a backpack with a space rocket pattern. Its lower body was naked except for a pair of cotton underwear. One foot was bare, and the other foot was wearing a high-top canvas shoe.

The river cleaners were not afraid.

He had been a river cleaner for many years and had pulled all sorts of things out of the river; this wasn't the first time he'd seen a corpse.

River cleaners used hooks to snag the backpack straps and pulled the body out.

He opened his schoolbag and looked inside. It was full of books that looked like a paste.

There were no valuables such as gold or silver, nor any cash.

This made him a little disappointed.

The river cleaner closed his backpack again, stuffed the body back into the rocky area, and called the police using a public phone booth.

The patrol officers in that area were the first to arrive at the scene.

Half an hour later, Detective O'Malley and a group of forensic experts arrived at the scene.

A dozen minutes later, Theodore and his two companions arrived at the scene.

From afar, you could smell a faint stench emanating from the corpse.

The scene was right on the riverbank, with a very wide field of vision, so the cordon area was set very wide.

Bernie showed his identification and the group was allowed to pass.

As you cross the warning line and get closer to the rocky area, the stench becomes increasingly strong.

Theodore glanced at Billy Hawke and noticed that although he was covering his nose, he was nowhere near as dramatic as he had been the night he discovered Evelyn Shaw's body.

He didn't even gag.

This made Theodore feel a little strange.

The three arrived at the rocky area and met up with Detective O'Malley.

The tall, thin forensic pathologist had completed the external examination of the body and was directing other forensic pathologists to stuff the body into a body bag.

Several forensic doctors and police officers were also nearby, collecting evidence.

Bernie opened his mouth, then closed it again.

After the tide recedes, this place has become a paradise for flies; just now, a fly almost flew into his mouth.

Bernie covered his mouth and asked Detective O'Malley:
"Is it confirmed to be Frank?"

Detective O'Malley also covered his mouth:
"It can be basically confirmed."

He turned around and pointed to the corpse:
"The clothes she was wearing matched those Frank's."

After a pause, Detective O'Malley continued:
"The body was discovered by river cleaners while they were clearing away trash from the receding tide."

"The exact time should be around 9:50."

He opened his notebook, confirmed it, and pointed to the sky:
He said he was listening to the radio at the time, and the broadcast happened to be announcing Shepard's landing.

Theodore and Bernie were both somewhat bewildered.

Although the live broadcast of this spaceflight experiment had been promoted well in advance, the two of them paid no attention to it at all.

Detective O'Malley continued:

"At first, he only saw a blue backpack stuck in a crevice in the rocks and thought it was trash. He used a hook to hook the backpack strap and pull it out, but he pulled out a corpse."

"After discovering it was a corpse, he immediately called the police."

The body was finally placed into a body bag, and several young forensic doctors closed the bag and carried it out.

The tall, thin forensic doctor walked over.

He briefly explained the findings of the autopsy to the group:

"The body was in a prone position, with its left ankle wrapped in the strap of a blue backpack with a space rocket pattern, securing it to a crevice in the rocks."

"The river water temperature at the scene is 56°F (approximately 13 degrees Celsius), and the river flow rate is 1.8 knots."

The tall, thin forensic doctor paused for a moment:
"The river water temperature is the result of our own testing, and the flow rate is provided by the river cleaner who found the body. He often works here, so it should be accurate."

Theodore glanced at the river; the current was indeed very slow.

The tall, thin forensic doctor continued:
"When the body was found, it was already moderately decomposed, with a swollen and deformed head and face, protruding eyeballs, a significantly distended abdomen, a large area of ​​dirty green skin on the chest and abdomen, and the skin on the hands and feet was soft, pale, and peeling off in layers."

Theodore asked him:
How long was the body submerged in the water?

The tall, thin forensic doctor shook his head:

"It is estimated to be between 3 and 7 days."

"If he is the Frank Kowalski you are looking for, then he was probably dumped in the river shortly after his mother was burned to death."

Theodore asked him:
Has the cause of death been determined?

The tall, thin forensic doctor shook his head cautiously:

"The answer can only be found after an autopsy."

Theodore pressed further:
When will the autopsy results be available?

The tall, thin forensic doctor silently calculated for a moment, then said seriously:
"Before I leave work in the afternoon."

He emphasized, "A complete autopsy report takes at least two days."

"This requires your laboratory to cooperate in completing toxicological and pathological tests." The search of the scene has been basically completed, and the personnel responsible for collecting physical evidence have left the scene.

The tall, thin forensic doctor also left with the body.

The stench lingered in the air for a long time.

The flies, now devoid of corpses, hovered in the air, eyeing the still-moving people below.

Theodore waved away the flies that tried to land on him, lingered for a moment in the rocky area where the corpses were stranded, and said with certainty:

"This is not a dumping ground for corpses."

He pointed upstream:
"The body was washed down from upstream."

Detective O'Malley hesitated for a moment, then asked a question:

Why did the arsonist throw Frank into the water?

"Doesn't he like setting fires?"

Theodore pointed to himself, then to Bernie and Billy Hawke:
"The arsonist was caught in the act by the three of us while he was burning the first victim."

"He didn't have time to burn the second victim at the scene, so he had no choice but to take the second victim away."

Theodore walked along the rocks, analyzing:

"Fire is one of the best ways to cover up secrets."

"But this method is very slow, especially for a corpse."

"The arsonist needs to dispose of the second victim as soon as possible to clear himself of suspicion and extricate himself from this live burning incident."

“The burning we just stumbled upon is clearly not a good option.”

"He had no choice but to dispose of the body in other ways."

Detective O'Malley pressed further:
"So he threw Frank into the river to drown?"

Theodore glanced at him:
"The second victim may not have drowned. Perhaps the second victim was already killed at the scene of the first victim's death, and the river may have just been the arsonist's choice to dump the body."

The tall, thin forensic doctor acted swiftly this time.

The autopsy was completed around 5 p.m., and preliminary autopsy results were compiled.

Theodore and his three companions were called to the medical examiner's office to hear the results.

The tall, thin forensic doctor sat in the chair, looking utterly exhausted.

The photos haven't even been developed yet.

Pathological and toxicological sections were not even prepared, and no reports on the physical evidence collected at the scene have been issued.

The only useful thing he had was his anatomical notes.

The tall, thin medical examiner first stated the cause of death that Theodore was most concerned about:
"There was a 1.8*1.2 inch (approximately 4.5×3.0 cm) area of ​​epidermal abrasion above the thyroid cartilage of the corpse, with leathery edges and deep muscle bleeding."

"There are three crescent-shaped nail indentations spaced 0.5 inches (about 1.2 cm) apart on the left lower jaw angle, consistent with strangulation by the right palm of an adult male."

"The autopsy revealed a 1.2*1.0 inch (approximately 3.0×2.5 cm) patch of hemorrhage deep to the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the deceased, and a comminuted fracture of the greater horn of the right hyoid bone, with the broken ends piercing the muscle layer."

"Diffuse hemorrhage of the laryngeal ventricle mucosa, with no urination or foreign body in the trachea and bronchi."

He looked up at Theodore:
"The deceased was strangled to death."

Theodore asked the tall, thin medical examiner:

"What was the time of death?"

He emphasized, "The specific time."

The tall, thin forensic doctor flipped through his notes, reading aloud and calculating as he went:
"The body's stomach was filled with 4.1 ounces (about 120 milliliters) of undigested food, which could be identified by the naked eye as crumbs of whole wheat bread, peanut butter, and a milky white liquid."

"The liquid has been sent for testing, and it is presumed to be milk."

"The food in the body's stomach was not fully digested, and death occurred 1-1.5 hours after the last meal."

"When the body was discovered, rigor mortis had completely subsided, and the body was in the early stages of decomposition, with greenish tinge spreading."

"The estimated time of death is 4-5 days."

Detective O'Malley, along with Bernie and Billy Hawke, all looked at Theodore.

Theodore felt somewhat bewildered and exchanged puzzled glances with Bernie and the other two.

Detective O'Malley couldn't help but say:
"You guessed right, Frank was strangled to death by the arsonist that very night."

Theodore corrected him:

"This is not a guess."

Detective O'Malley nodded haphazardly:
"He first burned Evelyn Shaw to death, then strangled Frank, and finally drove to the Anacasta River and threw him into the river."

Theodore continued to correct:
"We do not know the order of death of the first and second victims."

He looked at the tall, thin forensic pathologist and asked for more information about the autopsy results.

The tall, thin forensic doctor flipped through his notes:
"More detailed results will be available after pathological and toxicological tests."

"Let's wait for the autopsy report."

After leaving the forensic room, the four were called to the deputy police commissioner's office.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the deputy commissioner inquired about the progress of the investigation from Theodore.

The Fourth Precinct is preparing to establish a special task force to investigate this case.

The list of members of the task force is in the deputy police superintendent's drawer.

But before the appointment is made, the deputy commissioner needs to understand one thing.

That's the progress of the FBI's investigation.

The Fourth Precinct just set up a task force today, and tomorrow the FBI will announce that the arsonist has been caught.

The two sides haven't met since their last disagreement.

All communication between the two sides relied on Detective O'Malley.

Listening to Detective O'Malley's report, with its talk of hiding repeat offenders and profiling, the deputy commissioner felt like he was listening to gibberish; he couldn't understand a word he was reading.

Bernie spoke up before Theodore could again.

He asked the deputy police commissioner:
What direction do you plan to take in your investigation next?

The deputy commissioner looked at Detective O'Malley.

In which direction should the investigation proceed?
They have no direction!

Detective O'Malley forced himself to speak:
Harold Shaw never showed up.

Theodore shook his head:

Harold Shaw is not the murderer.

"We've analyzed this before."

Bernie looked at the deputy commissioner and recounted his analysis of Harold Shaw.

The deputy commissioner paused for a moment, then asked Bernie:
“Patrick O’Malley briefed me on what you believe the arsonist has done in multiple cases.”

"Are you planning to investigate his previous cases?"

Bernie nodded.

He glanced at Detective O'Malley and explained Theodore's investigative approach.

He has been doing this since Felton days, and now he is quite adept at it.

His explanation was simple and easy to understand; you could grasp it immediately.

The deputy police commissioner did not want the arsonist to set another fire, and he asked if there were any other options.

Bernie did not answer.

Theodore shrugs:

"This is the fastest and simplest way."

After a moment's deliberation, the deputy superintendent made his decision:

What kind of help do you need?

"We can cooperate with you."

Bernie's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Theodore.

(End of this chapter)