Shouldn't Be This Way

Chapter 20: Plan without hole

Detective Wan arrived at the office with a calm demeanour next morning. He realised he had to give it his all for this case, which had a lot of complications.

Danielle stood outside the door, peering in. Three additional officers appear to be discussing something. She inhaled deeply, pulled her hair back, and walked inside.

" Please proceed the autopsy process " As Danielle walked inside his office, Detective Wan said to her, " Tell the forensic department, I need this report by tomorrow "

Danielle only stand still before she spoke, " The thing is sir... the head of forensic team want to meet you in person "

" Can he just send me the file? " His gazed still fixed to the phone, " Does he know that I'm very busy with the case "

" It's a she actually... " " And she said that there's something important to tell you "

Her words finally caught the attention of her superior.

" Hmmm, okay then, I will meet here later " 

Detective Wan reached for his car key and hit the road. A yawn escaped his mouth because sleepless night is a routine for a hotshot detective like him whenever he received a new case. After twenty minutes drive, he arrived at the hospital. He walks into a dimly lit but most visited place for most detectives in the hospital. Detective Wan then noticed a woman in her early thirties flipping through a file in the lab's centre.

For a lengthy moment, he scanned the woman. Her cheekbones were prominent, and her ink-black hair spiralled down the back of her white lab coat. His attention was drawn to the gorgeous monolid eyes focusing on the file.

" Ehemmm " He feigned to cough in order to get the woman's attention.

The woman lifted his head upon hearing the sound. " Oh--, can I know who--, are you? " She wrinkled her face.

" My name is Detective Wan, I'm in charge for the Sarah's case " He held his gazed in confidence " Can I meet your superior? She asked me to head down here for the report "

She smiled pleasantly and said, " Oh—, actually, I'm the head of the team to handle this case."

" I'm sorry, I thought--, you--, only subordinates--, " He stuttered, " You looks quite young to lead the team "

" You also appear to be rather young to manage this big scale of the case," she said, standing up dazed. A rebuttal from her, as it is true that it is unusual for a young investigator like him to take on such a well-known and important case.

Silent awkwardness filled the room before the doctor spoke out, " My name is Emilia " She took a seat at her workstation in the lab's right corner, " I know you quite busy with the case, so I will start the briefing right away "

Detective Wan scratched his neck, his face flushed with shyness. " All right... "

The briefing was began by the Forensic Doc. " You see, the normal human has a body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius, and when a person dies, their body begins to cool at a pace of roughly 1-2 degrees every hour."

Doctor Emilia then took another paper " Another things, after people die, their muscles begin to stiffen and contract. In some cases, this process can begin as soon as 15 minutes after death " " And... typically, a body is in full rigor mortis 15 hours after death and--, "

" --, Doc, I love these cool science stuff but with due respect, can you cut the case? " Detective Wan interrupted impatient.

" Okay... the things is it's hard to come up with the estimation of time but the possible conclusion that I can give is the time of death is less than 24 hours "

" Huh!? " He exclaimed. " Freshly died then? "

" Yup... "

" Can I know the cause of death then? "

" I want to tell you just now but you interrupted me " Her tone timidly angry.

" Oh yeah, sorry then " Detective Wan cheekily apologised.

" Hmmm, when we originally did the autopsy, there were few symptoms of blunt trauma force in her head and chest," says the doctor. She walked over to her workstation and switched the display. " As you can see on the screen, the white area represents the enlarged area and the force's impact. "

" Okay, can you identify the weapon used in the attack? " He asked, standing there confidently with his hands inside his pocket.

" We assume the weapon used is a wooden object based on the size and pattern of the hit, and the nearest item to that strike is a baseball stick."

" Do you mean baseball bat? " He inquired, and then scribbled the note in his notebook.

" Same thing and I'm not done yet! " Doctor sighed and put a serious expression, " You see, if this item hits hard enough, it can even stop a perfectly functioning heart and can even cause the a severe brain damages "

" So... what's your point? " He appears baffled.

She inhaled deeply, " The problem is the impact on her vital organs doesn't go to the extent that it can kill her " " There is also any sign of sexual assault on her woman genital " She finished in one breath.

" So what's your conclusion then, it seem that you like to play with the assumptions " He playfully joked.

Maybe it's the wrong timing or it's the wrong joke, the doctor's eyes enlarge perhaps offended by his words, " I respected your profession detective so please respect mine and I like you to be more mindful with your words, " Doctor Emilia said as she moved her gaze elsewhere.

Detective Wan became flustered with the reaction and put a sincere apologised expression. " I'm sorry doctor for my rude behaviour " He said swiftly, admitting his mistake and apologising.

" It's fine " She's crafted a little smile of consolation.

" Normally, one autopsy process can complete a comprehensive report of the corpse, but there's something peculiar about this body, even after three full procedures, we can't determine the cause of death" She said, her face despondent.

" How about any drug or substances in her body? " Detective wan asked lifted his eyebrow, " Is there any substances that can cause her death? "

" That's the things that made my team speechless and clueless " Doctor Emilia bit her lips before continued, " You see, usually if the physical attack is not the cause then we will conduct a process to detect any toxicology in the dead body "

" It can be a poison, excessive drug or any chemical substances that can pull out live from the dead body " She took off her glasses and said, " And you can see here, unfortunately we hit the dead end, there's not sign of toxicology in her body "

Doctor Emilia locks her gaze on him. " It's as if her life was snatched from her by an unseen weapon "

" Hmmm, that's unusual " he said, a little taken aback by the gravity of her tone, he muttered to himself. " In any event, thank you for your efforts, doctor, please contact me if you discover anything that may be of use in the investigation " He handed her a business card.

For the past six months, there has been no trace of the victim and now suddenly as the body found, no cause of death has been determined, no accurate death estimate has been made, and there is no lead on the killer. For the authorities, this case became increasingly perplexing. Despite pressure from the press and the family, Detective Wan remains unshaken. On the contrary, it fuelled his desire to crack the case.