‘Executions were public back then, too,’ said Banks.
Dr Galway nodded. ‘Yes. I sometimes get the impression there’s quite a few people around who wouldn’t mind watching them on television these days. But enough of that. What can I tell you from the post-mortem? Well, there’ll be a full report in due time, of course, and I don’t like preliminary reports, but I’ll tell you what I know. Externally, at any rate, the boy’s organs were in excellent shape. His aorta and pancreas were punctured by a four-inch knife blade, and the bleeding from the aorta was, I’d say, the immediate cause of death.’
‘Dr Burns said at the scene that one of the thrusts might have pierced or punctured his right ventricle.’
Dr Galway shook her head. ‘I can see how he might have thought that at the scene,’ she said. ‘I’ve seen the photographs, and the body was in a very awkward position to examine. But it was definitely the punctured aorta that caused death.’
‘What about that hypostasis you suspected earlier?’
‘It is present, to a small degree, exactly where you would expect it to be if he’d been lying on his back.’
‘Can you give me a better idea of how long, now that you’ve opened him up?’
Dr Galway tilted her head. ‘You don’t give up easily, do you.’
Banks smiled. ‘Not in my job description.’
‘From what I could see — in my judgement, and based on previous experience — I’d narrow it to an hour, an hour and a half at the most.’
That meant the boy had probably died between half past nine and ten o’clock. Banks would have guessed at a later time simply because it was darker then, but if he had been killed inside, the darkness wouldn’t matter. ‘Thank you, doctor. So whoever killed him had maybe an hour to an hour and a half to get him from wherever he died to the spot where he was found. How long would it have taken for death to occur after his injuries?’
‘Hard to say. Almost anything can happen with stab wounds. You’d be surprised how often they’re not even fatal. In this case, though, he would probably have survived long enough to feel the life ebbing out of him, poor lad. There was quite a lot of blood, as you saw, and there would have been plenty at the scene, too, but even so, a lot of the bleeding was internal. It often is. The wound closes when the knife is pulled out. Unless you hit a lung, of course, then there’s usually bloody spray from the mouth. Whether he could have been saved is a moot point. Personally, I doubt it. A pierced aorta is about as serious a wound as it gets, and even if a good doctor had opened him up immediately, survival would have been doubtful, at best. Whether the intent was to kill or not, I’m afraid that’s for the courts to decide. I have no idea what happened, what the killer had in mind. It’s rare that anyone knows how to use a knife properly, the way a commando might, for example, or someone skilled in close hand-to-hand combat.’ She gestured with a pencil. ‘Most people just thrust away and hope for the best. It looks like that’s what happened in this case.’
‘You mentioned earlier that there are no defensive wounds.’
‘That’s right. There’s no evidence of a fight, as such. I’d guess the poor lad was terrified and backed away from whoever was attacking him.’
‘But one of the thrusts struck the aorta.’
‘Yes.’ Dr Galway paused. ‘Apart from the stab wounds, he was in excellent shape. Fit as the proverbial fiddle, though there are indications of malnutrition in the recent past.’
‘Malnutrition?’
‘Yes. Of course, we’ll need close analysis of liver, bones, immune system, amino acids and pancreas, among other things, to determine protein deficiencies and vitamin markers, and to find out just how severe and long-lasting the condition was, but you could see even before I opened him up that he was painfully thin. It’s not the cause of death, but it may have played a part, weakened his system. One of the problems with malnutrition is that it’s hard to measure, especially if it occurred some time ago and the subject is deceased. It’s something a doctor would want to diagnose while the patient is still alive, as it can usually be reversed. The stomach contents showed he’d eaten a burger and chips shortly before death. So at least he was eating recently.’
‘What kind of burger?’
‘A Big Mac.’ Dr Galway laughed. ‘Only joking. Autopsy humour. Really, Superintendent. Your guess is as good as mine. I’ll get it analysed, if you like. Obviously if certain ingredients are present, that would help us identify its source. I’m afraid we don’t have a burger database yet.’
‘It might be something worth working on,’ Banks joked. ‘Pizzas, too. How long before he died did he eat?’
‘Not long. The food wasn’t digested. Maybe an hour or two.’
That meant Banks could send his team to question all the local burger joints and perhaps find out where the boy had been eating just before he was killed.
‘But you can’t say how long ago the malnutrition took place?’
‘No. Not very recently is my guess right now. Not days. More likely weeks or months ago. Perhaps with the analysis I could give a better estimate. Does it matter?’
‘I’m just wondering if he could have arrived in this country recently from somewhere children don’t get enough to eat. Maybe by boat or some other means.’
‘You mean smuggled in?’
‘Yes.’
‘I can’t possibly answer that. There are children — far too many, in my opinion — living in this country who suffer from malnutrition. I can see where you’re going with this, though, and I can see why you’re going there, but I’d still advise caution before you come to any conclusions.’
‘Of course,’ said Banks. ‘We’d certainly require corroborating evidence, no matter what your findings. Lacking any evidence of parents or other relatives nearby, I’m just trying to work out where to start searching. If he’s a recent immigrant or an asylum seeker, he’ll be registered somewhere, and there are checks we can do. If he’s illegal, we’ll probably be out of luck. It’s a start. Any signs of drug abuse? We did find cocaine in his pocket, as you know.’
‘None at all. Again, we’ll have to wait for a complete analysis of samples to confirm it, but none of the common signs of cocaine use are present.’
‘Anything else?’
‘There is that scar.’
‘What about it?’
Dr Galway paused and glanced at the painting on her wall, as if for inspiration. ‘Again, I hesitate to draw conclusions, but it’s too broad to have been caused by a knife blade, and it went deep. It also went largely untreated. You just have to look at the scar tissue to see that.’
‘So what do you suggest?’
‘I have some experience of these types of wounds from my misspent youth, and I’d say it’s an old gunshot wound — what you might call a flesh wound, painful but not life-threatening — or perhaps caused by a piece of shrapnel.’
‘Where on earth did you get such experience?’
Dr Galway paused before answering, then said, ‘Iraq. Courtesy of Mr Blair.’
‘Good Lord. How old is it?’
Dr Galway shrugged. ‘Hard to say. It’s healed. Badly. But it’s healed. The tissue is no longer inflamed, and there’s no infection. It’s a clean scar. Again, perhaps months, maybe a year. He was still growing, so it’s hard to know how much it has already been distorted by that process. And malnutrition slows down growth, so that might have had an effect, too.’