Stab Wounds

Sergeant Lily Wong sniffed the metallic smell of blood in the room. The pool of thick scarlet fluid had congealed on the blue Persian carpet, beneath the body of a young blonde woman. After all these years in the police force, it still took Lily all her mental determination not to throw up.

Inspector Rajesh squatted beside the body. His eyes scanned the kitchen knife a foot from her. The knife looked brand new and sharp, its blade stained wine red. Wearing a pair of gloves, the Inspector lowered his expressionless face to the ground, eyeing the weapon at close distance without touching it. He produced a hand-held magnifier, examining the rug around the knife.

The victim lay supine, her hair still wrapped neatly behind her head. She wore a beige dress, two areas of her abdomen appeared marked with something dark. Multiple stab wounds?

Taking a closer look of the lifeless body, Lily followed the direction of her pale arm to the wrist and gasped. The gold watch said Richard Trumpeter-it was one of those timepieces that made Phillip Partek look cheap. Not that Lily was any expert in luxury watches--she read about this in Kevin Kwan's China Rich Girlfriend.

Wait a minute. How could someone that seemed to be in her twenties to late thirties afford to wear something so extravagant? An escort? A high class hooker? From an east European country? Quite often seen in the clubs in this country. This was not a robbery for sure. But then why killed her? What was the motive? If only she knew. That might reveal the killer.

Three feet away, a grand piano stood somberly, next to a suede easy chair. No sign of any gross physical disturbance. No evidence of any struggle.

A loud chime made Lily jump. On the corner of the room stood a huge wooden structure that said Bulova Tatianna--a grandfather clock. Haven't seen any of those in a crime scene before. She was more accustomed to finding dead bodies in sleazy places or foreign worker dormitories. Cases with violent low lives. The setting piqued her interest in the current case. At the same time, the sheer opulence of the room chided her.

"Officer, did you notice something odd about the knife?" The Inspector looked up at the policewoman.

"It's from the kitchen," Lily said. "I've confirmed with Mrs. Tan that a knife is missing there."

Rajesh shook his head. "I'm not talking about where the knife is from. I mean the total lack of blood splatter on the carpet between the body and the knife. And watch the position of the knife, how it points to the woman."

"The lack of splatter is surprising. After the sharp edge of the knife lacerates a major organ or vessel, the haemorrhage would explain the blood pooling under the body; but pulling the knife out will certainly result in visible droplets of blood next to the knife."

"Who is the victim?" Lily turned to the trembling woman.

The middle aged Cantonese housekeeper, Megan Tan shrugged. "Don't know madam, I've not seen her before."

"Did you move or touch anything?" Lily stared at Megan.

"No madam, I left her exactly the way I found her. I called the police from the telephone."

Lily's brow raised. "You didn't check whether she is alive?"

"I tried to check her pulse."

"Where?"

Megan lifted her thumb at Lily. "Her neck. Carotid."

"So you touched her?" Lily raised her voice, deliberately. If Megan was guilty of something, a little stress might cause her to slip up.

Megan lowered her head, nodding slightly.

Lily sighed. Maybe she could try a gentler approach. "I know it's a big shock. Tell me exactly what you did and saw after you got here. Nevermind, start from the first thing you did today."

Megan's face appeared blank. Inspector Rajesh stood. "Sergeant Wong, what do you think happened? Tell me your impression of this crime scene. "

"Well," Lily said, "we have an unknown victim. Owner of the house had been away for three days. Housecleaner discovered this accidentally. Forensics will take her fingerprint to establish identity. Will see if the knife has any prints as well."

Rajesh stood up. "Inform your colleague to look for signs of struggle elsewhere in the house. Show me the toxicology report after her autopsy. I want to know her cause of death."

"Isn't that obvious? The stab wounds."

Rajesh gave a slow smile. "I suspect the knife was pulled out a while after she died."

"Eh? Why? And why not dispose of it in that case?" Lily frowned.

Rajesh used a finger to stroke his chin. "It's almost as if the murderer wants to highlight the stabbing."

Lily scratched her head, taking a step back. "That's bizarre. If she died from another cause, why stab her as well?"

"Who knows, anyone can use a knife. But maybe the real mechanism of her death is more sophisticated and that narrows the search for her murderer? Something is odd, maybe this is not even the primary crime scene."