Positioned on opposing sides of the workstation, the scientists began removing the bones one piece at a time, carefully placing them onto the rubber matting. Slowly the reassembled skeletal frame came together: the longer bones of the legs and arms, the pelvis and loose bundles of ribs, the segments of spinal vertebrae, and finally the delicate, complex bones of the hands and feet.
With infinite care, Charlotte lifted the skull from the ossuary. Supporting the mandible with one hand and the orb of cranium with the other, she placed it at the end of the completed skeleton.
Bersei performed a quick visual inspection. “Looks like all two hundred and six bones are here.” He grabbed the Canon and snapped a few more shots of the completed skeleton.
Charlotte peered down. “Okay. Let’s figure out how this man died.”
“Strictly speaking, we don’t know we’re dealing with a male yet, Dr. Hennesey,” he politely challenged. “Could be female.”
Charlotte tilted her head. “Sure. But I doubt a woman would’ve been given such a fancy box.”
Raising his eyebrows, he couldn’t tell if she was joking.
“Don’t panic. I’m not about to get feminist on you,” she said. “I’m saving that for later.”
“Just be gentle.”
Both scientists agreed that their initial analysis would be a forensic pathology study determining the cause of death if possible, followed by a reconstruction of the skeleton’s physical profile. Charlotte activated the workstation’s recording system to document the analysis. Later, their oral notes would be transcribed. From the workstation drawer, she pulled out two pairs of Orascoptic goggles. Giving one to Bersei and putting the other on, she flipped the telescoping lenses over her eyes.
They began with the skull, both bending closer to study it in minute detail.
“Looks perfect,” Bersei said peering through his goggles.
Charlotte sized up the dimensions and contours. “Square chin, pronounced supraorbital ridges and muscle attachment points. It does look like we’re dealing with a male.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Bersei admitted. He tilted the skull back and rotated it, examining the inner cavity. “The sutures are still visible, but have all fused. See here,” he pointed to the seam where the contoured bone plates met along the skull, looking like a jagged zipper that had been smoothed over.
Verifying his observation, Charlie knew the concept. The younger the specimen, the more pronounced the joining lines would appear, looking like the tight joining of two saw blades. The older the specimen, the fusion would advance to the point where the lines would become indiscernible. “That means we’re looking at age twenty to thirty, minimum?”
“I’d agree with that.” Bersei turned the skull over a few times, scanning its surfaces. “I’m not seeing any indications of head trauma, are you?”
“None.”
Both scientists turned their attention to the mandible.
“These teeth are in magnificent shape,” Charlotte said. “Hope mine hold up this well. This guy still had a full set. Don’t even see an indication of periodontal disease.” For a second, she fussed with a rotating dial on the goggles to increase the magnification of the lenses. “The enamel’s intact. No cavities or uneven wearing.”
“Strange.”
“Maybe he didn’t like sweets.”
They moved to the cervical region, analyzing intently, searching for abnormalities in the neck.
“I’m not seeing any spurs,” Charlotte remarked. “No ridging or ossification here.”
“And no fusion either,” Bersei added. “Actually, the discs don’t appear to have degenerated at all.” He delicately rotated the last small section of cervical vertebrae. “Nothing shocking.” He motioned toward the skeleton’s rib cage. “Let’s keep moving.”
Almost immediately Charlotte’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait. That’s interesting.”
Following her finger to the center of the chest area, Bersei focused on the flat bones of the sternum and spotted it immediately. “That’s a huge tear.”
“Sure is.” She studied the separations in the dried cartilage attaching the ribs to the chest plate. “Do you think that might have happened when the rib cage was detached to fit into the ossuary?”
“Perhaps.” His tone was cautious. Bersei shifted his focus to the adjacent shoulder. “Look here.”
She followed his lead. “You’ve got a good eye. The humerus and clavicle were separated from the scapula?”
“Agreed. But it doesn’t look like it happened postmortem. The tears are fibrous. Where the tissue separated suggests the breakage happened before the tissue dried.” He shifted back to the sternum. “See here. Looks like the same story. Can you detect where the cartilage stretched, pulled widthwise and tore? When the bones were prepared for burial, some kind of blade was used to cut the tissue.”
Hennesey saw it too. A clean cut bisected the lateral stress tears of torn cartilage. “Ouch, that looks painful. What do you think...a dislocation?”
“A very violent dislocation.” Bersei’s tone was troubled.
“That had to really hurt.”
“I’m sure it did. But it certainly didn’t kill him. You take those ribs.” He indicated the ones closest to her. “And I’ll take these.”
Time seemed suspended as they worked on the ribs, meticulously analyzing each surface.
Charlotte was just starting to ease into the idea of working on bones, focusing on the task at hand rather than unpleasant images of the genetic chaos inside her own body at that very moment. “You seeing what I’m seeing?”
“The deep grooves?” Bersei’s head was down. “Absolutely.”
Some of the ribs were unscathed, but most looked like they’d been raked with thick nails to produce long, scalloped gouges. The ratty fissures appeared in random groupings.
“What could’ve done this?” Her voice had sunk to a whisper.
“I think I may know. Do you see traces of metal deposit?”
“Yes. Is this something that happened postmortem? It almost looks like some kind of animal was chewing on them.”
“I’d have to say no,” Bersei told her. “You’ll notice those marks only appear on the anterior fascia. Teeth would’ve left marks on both sides, not to mention that most scavengers would have run off with the bone before gnawing on it and wouldn’t have left us a complete skeleton.”
“So what do you think did this?” Charlotte straightened.
“Let me put it this way.” He peered over the flip-down telescoping lenses. “If the bones look this bad, the muscle and skin that covered them must have looked far worse.... Probably shredded.” Holding her gaze, he drew a breath then said, “Looks to me like this man was flayed.”
“You mean whipped?”
He nodded slowly. “That’s right. Those markings are from a barbed whip.”
“Poor guy.” The thought of such violence hit her in the gut.
“Let’s keep going.” Bersei bent down and began working on the upper segments of lumbar vertebrae.