Happy Accidents

Chapter 3: Dignity

As they arrived at the crime scene, Sakura quickly spotted the forensic team surveying the area, nodding at a few of them. They appeared glad to see her; one girl with brown hair tied in buns atop her head was exceptionally cheerful, giving her a friendly wave. Sakura recognized her from Ino—she was Tenten, the ballistics expert, and was standing next to Neji Hyuga, one of the behavioural psychologists assigned to the department. They appeared to be close, judging from the way they would happily chat as they were working.

Sakura quickly got to work examining the body, gloved hand gently lifting parts of the remains to look at them. "Based on the cranial sutures and the maxilla, the subject appears to be female, early twenties. The water appears to have prevented some decomposition along the lower extremities. Still, the state of the upper body suggests that she had risen to the surface at some point, perhaps snagged downstream on some branches or rocks that prevented the current from pulling her," she said idly as she did her examination. It was preliminary, of course; she would be able to determine more once she could do a complete autopsy and anthropological exam.

"Appears to have been shorter; based on the approximate length of the tibia and spine, she was no more than four foot eleven, maybe five feet. I'll be able to tell better when I can lay the bones out. Some bone remodelling of the jaw suggests she broke that as well as her cheekbone at some point—I can see some remodelling here on the clavicle and sternum as well." She glanced up at the detective, who had... an odd expression on his face. Though his face appeared neutral, his eyes looked... sad. Very sad.

"So it's possible she was either in a fight when she was younger, or... signs of abuse?" He asked curiously, taking down notes as he spoke. "What's that, over there?" He asked, pointing to one portion of the skull that appeared damaged.

"There appears to be damage caused by a gunshot wound to the head... a nine millimetre, based on the approximate size. There appears to be some damage to the hand; likely, the victim tried to shield herself from her attacker. There's a third wound through the left patella, suggesting she was shot in the knee, perhaps to stop her before her attacker killed her." It was amazing how much information could be collected through cataloguing and inspecting even the slightest damage to remains.

"Or to make sure she couldn't escape before she was shot," Detective Uchiha muttered, a hint of anger in his voice. Sakura couldn't blame him; anyone cold enough to murder another person was worth hating as far as she was concerned.

"Hmm... there's some scraping along the orbital bone... I'll need to get this back to the lab to confirm, but..." She made a face, and he looked at her curiously.

"But what?" He asked.

"Based on the angle and the lack of tissue... it's entirely possible that her assailant... removed her eyes from their sockets before dumping the body," she said slowly, a sick feeling in her gut. Even he looked almost ill at the thought.

"That's all I can determine for now. Forensics can pack up the body, and I'll examine it back at the lab. You and I can head back for the time being. We can check missing persons for records and see if we can attach an identity to our victim." Standing up, Sakura snapped off her gloves and tossed them in one of the nearby biohazard bags.

"So... that's it?" He asked, almost seeming impatient.

Sakura gave him a flat look. "Unless you have a mobile lab, yes. Are you always this grumpy and impatient?" She asked bluntly, frowning at him. She was over his pushy attitude. "Unless your next step is to apologize for seemingly questioning my two doctorates and Master's degree, I suggest you pipe down."

He grunted in annoyance. "I wasn't. Let's head back."

"Fine." She brusquely walked past him, practically stomping her way to the car while she mentally hurled vulgarities at him. She wasn't going to be cut out for this. Not if he was going to be this much of a problem for her. She would have to set some ground rules if they were going to be working together. One of them would be 'don't rush Sakura in the morning when she's having her morning bagel'!