Page 11 of The Vanished

“No one doubts you,” Colin replied. “If they did, they wouldn’t have approved another episode, but it’s always about the bottom line and, now that they know the information can be obtained another way, one that doesn’t cost anything, they’re hesitant to shell out.”

“I see.”

This wasn’t going at all as she had expected, and there was the distinct possibility that they might have to give up and either cremate or bury the woman without learning her secrets.

“Rhys said there was a ring,” he said.

“A silver claddagh ring. It’s at home.”

Colin nodded but didn’t comment.

“Were you able to learn anything from the postmortem?” Quinn asked, still hopeful that the episode might be salvaged.

“Just the basics.” Colin came to stand on the other side of the slab, facing her as he began. “The deceased was in her late teens to early twenties, was in excellent health at the time of death, and had enjoyed a plentiful and varied diet. The stomach contained partially digested meat fibers—likely beef or lamb—along with potatoes, mushrooms, and fragments of root vegetables. The degree of digestion suggests the meal was eaten one to two hours prior to death. She had also been drinking alcohol. Analysis of the stomach contents did not reveal the presence of any known toxin.”

“So, presumably she was well-off,” Quinn mused.

“Most likely,” Colin agreed. “There are no calluses on her hands, and her feet are unblemished. This woman did not work with her hands or go without footwear. The pronounced development of her thighs, calves, and core indicates regular walking and strongly suggests she was also accustomed to riding.”

“And the cause of death?”

“There are faint horizontal bruises across the shoulder blades and the backs of the calves, a rounded contusion on the left temple consistent with blunt force trauma, and peaty water mixed with debris in the lungs.”

“So the victim—and she clearly was a victim—was battered, then drowned?” Quinn asked.

“Battered is not quite the right term. My theory is that the victim was struck on the side of the head with a smooth, rounded object, then thrown into the well. The horizontal bruises on the back and the legs are not consistent with a beating. Given the location and shape of the marks, it’s more likely that the body was moved, possibly with the aid of a cart or a makeshift stretcher that might have had crossbars. The blow to the head resulted in an intracranial hemorrhage, which, given the amount of blood on the brain, would have been severely debilitating. However, the ultimate cause of death was drowning.”

“Colin, is there any evidence of sexual assault or pregnancy?”

Quinn knew she was clutching at straws. Colin would have said if he had found evidence of either, but even a supposition was better than nothing at all to go on. Many a woman had been disposed of because she had become demanding or inconvenient, or if her child could cause embarrassment or prove the cause of someone’s undoing.

“No, there isn’t.” Colin smiled apologetically. “And I can’t tell you if she was a virgin. The absence of a hymen does not conclusively prove that someone was sexually active.”

So, another dead end, then. “And the garment she was wearing?”

“Silk. Probably white or nude-colored when new. There was a bit of lace at the neckline.”

“Is there any way to date the fabric or the lace?”

Both silk and lace had been produced for centuries, so the presence of either did nothing to narrow down the time period, and the style was quite basic.

Colin echoed Quinn’s thoughts when he said, “The garment was in the water too long to yield any significant clues. But since silk became widely available in England in the seventeenth century, we can at least rule out anything before then.”

Quinn thought it was far too soon to rule anything out. English women had not worn silk regularly until the 1800s, but it had existed in England as early as the seventh century, and Ancient Romans had imported silk from China and fashioned it into luxurious garments for highborn ladies. A Roman woman might easily have owned a silk sheath, just as a Frenchwoman might have worn a lace-trimmed silk gown decades before such a garment had become available in England. French silks had dominated the European market for at least a century before silk had been widely available to English nobility. Of course, a Roman maiden would not have worn a claddagh ring, but a young woman of European origin might have, even if she wasn’t Irish.

“Without DNA sequencing, we can’t rule out that she had come from another country,” Quinn ventured.

“You are correct,” Colin conceded. “Especially since her body was found so close to the coast. But the short hair might be a clue to the time period.”

“Yes and no. Short hair for women became fashionable in the twentieth century, but before that those nursing the sick often cut their patients’ hair for practical reasons since it was easier to take care of. The victim might not have been ill at the time of her death, but perhaps her hair had been cut a few months before and was in the process of growing in.”

“Also possible,” Colin agreed. “There’s nothing to suggest otherwise.”

“Is there any likelihood that she committed suicide?” Quinn asked.

“I suppose the wound could be self-inflicted or accidental, and maybe she had fallen back onto something that had left those bruises, but I couldn’t say with any certainty.”

“What about the position of the body?”