Closing the death scene file, I opened another containing photos taken at the LSJML. The first few depicted a body bag, zipped then unzipped, the latter displaying jumbled bones visible in the bag’s interior.

The next series showed an autopsy table, dirt-encrusted skeleton atop the stainless steel. A few bones were connected by desiccated muscle or ligament. Most lay loose, in positions approximating those they’d occupied when the body was intact.

“Here you see the remains as they arrived at the morgue, prior to any manipulation. Shall I identify individual elements?”

Schechter gave another haughty wave. The old wheezer had quite a repertoire.

“Shall I explain my cleaning process?”

“Not germane.”

“Dandy. Let’s proceed to ID.”

“My client does not question that the remains are those of his daughter.”

“Groovy. Let’s talk about trauma. Shall I clarify the terms antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem?”

“Succinctly.”

“With skeletal remains, antemortem refers to trauma occurring prior to death, injuries sustained earlier in life and showing evidence of healing. Perimortem refers to trauma suffered at or close to the time of death. Postmortem refers to trauma inflicted after death, damage associated with decomposition, abuse of the body, animal scavenging, and such.”

“How is this germane?” Clearly, Schechter liked the word.

“It is germane to your client’s understanding of what happened to his daughter. And, perhaps more important, what did not.”

Again the hand.

“I will not belabor the importance of distinguishing between perimortem and postmortem trauma. I would like to make clear, however, that, for the anthropologist, this distinction has more to do with bone quality than it does with time of death. It’s a complex subject, so forgive me if I oversimplify.