It was time for the hands-on part of the job-the part one never saw on Quincy. Occasionally, the answers fell right into place with a first look. Time of death, cause of death, mechanism and manner of death-these were the blanks that had to be filled in. A verdict of suicide or natural causes would make Beamis and Shradick happy; a verdict of homicide would not.

This time, unfortunately, M. J. could give them no quick answers.

She could make an educated guess about time of death. Livor mortis, the body's mottling after death, was unfixed, suggesting that death was less than eight hours old, and the body temperature, using Moritz's formula, suggested a time of death of around midnight. But the cause of death?

"Nothing definitive, guys," she said. "Sorry."

Beamis and Shradick looked disappointed, but not at all surprised.

"We'll have to wait for body fluids," she said.

"How long?"

"I'll collect it, get it to the state lab today. But they've been running a few weeks behind."

"Can't you run a few tests here?" asked Beamis.

"I'll screen it through gas and TL chromatography, but it won't be specific. Definitive drug ID will have to go through the state lab."

"All we wanna know," said Shradick, "is whether it's a possible."

"Homicide's always possible." She continued her external exam, starting with the head. No signs of trauma here; the skull felt intact, the scalp unbroken. The blond hair was tangled and dirty; obviously the woman had not washed it in days. Except for postmortem changes, she saw no marks on the torso either. The left arm, however, drew her attention. It had a long ridge of scar tissue snaking down it toward the wrist.