"Phin, come down to the lab on the third floor, I need help."
The voice on the other end of the line on the office phone made Phinya's heart race.
"There's something about the plane crash case."
Five minutes later, Dr. Phinya appeared in front of the main lab of the Bioanthropology Research Institute. She walked in and see Bua, dressed in a long white lab coat with blue gloves, standing with her hands on her hips in front of a 65-inch screen. The screen is connected to a twenty-fold magnification camera and high-intensity lights. Bua stared at the screen, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
"What's wrong, Baibua?"
Phinya asked, stopping near a stainless steel table, where part of a rib cage was exposed. Bua pointed to the television screen.
"Look at this, what do you think of these marks?"
Phinya looked at the monitor and see a sharp mark on the plane crash victim's fifth left rib.
"This mark is recent."
"Have they identified this person yet?"
"Not yet. But I found this and called you to take a look first."
"Are there any other marks elsewhere?"
"Not yet." Bua replied.
"What do you think of these marks?"
"I'm not sure. Phinya said.
"From the shape of the cut, I don't think it's a bladed weapon. The mark is too wide and rounded. If it were a blade piercing, the cut would be narrow, like a slit or triangular. But this mark..."
"A bullet." Bua interrupted.
"Could it be that?"
"It's possible." Phinya replied.
"Considering the effect of the bullet's spin when it hits the bone, it could cause an injury with this type of cut. Or any object long and rounded enough to penetrate and cause damage. In that case, it would have to be used with considerable force."
"Do you think this happened before or after the accident?"
Phinya didn't answer right away. She just moved to adjust the camera's zoom, magnifying the image forty times, examining the mark more closely.
"It's hard to say, but the mark is recent."
"...."
"If it happened before or after the accident, it was in a short space of time. There are no signs of healing, and even though it's rounded, the injury is still very clear."
"I knew something was wrong with this case." Bua exclaimed.
"A plane crash victim with a bone injury caused by a weapon? The more we investigate, the stranger it gets."
She looked at the screen for a moment before picking up the camera and taking photos to send to the forensics team.
"None of this is normal since this skull appeared on the scene."
Phinya agreed.
"By the way, how is the dating process going?"
"I called yesterday. They said there are still two cases left in the queue. They'll probably start the analysis next week."
Bua replied.
"Right." Phinya replied.
"And about the skull X-rays you mentioned, have you gotten them yet?"
