Autopsy Results

Posted on Sun Jun 13th, 2021 @ 4:33pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Commander William Gerhard & Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D.

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Deck E - Sickbay
Timeline: Day 166 16:00
1535 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth was glad the body of Aurelius was nowhere to be seen in sickbay as Beth and the Armoury Chief stood there getting the results of the autopsy. She had seen him dead enough and she did not want to repeat that sight if she could help it, it was becoming an all too familiar sight being in the morgue. “I know it is a lot asking you to do it as quick as you have but…” Beth let the thought go. Whatever questions raised with this she would answer them as they come up if needs be.

Avira looked over at the Commander from behind her desk and then at the Armoury Chief. She wondered about Beth's presence there but didn't feel it was her place to speak on this, "It's part of the job, ma'am." She simply commented, the Commander had been through a lot and at this point, the universe was just piling on, "would you like me to share my findings with you?" She asked as she got up, giving the Armoury Chief an opportunity to stop her from divulging information to someone that ought not to have it.

William stood across from Avira's desk and pulled his PADD and stylus out as he prepared to make notes. He then looked at Avira, "Just the summary please Doctor. Chief Karalo and Ensign Rossi with go over the full report with you when they finish processing the crime scene. What we need to know is time and cause of death and if your ruling this a homicide or not. Per Starfleet regulations, we cannot proceed further until we know for sure it was a homicide."

"Well in that case, you can proceed further," Avira simply stated, "there's clear defensive wounds on the victim's hands and lower arms indicating the victim resisted the assailant." She grabbed a padd from her desk that held the notes, it was encrypted to only allow people of the investigating team access, "the lacerations inflicted appear to be from decisive cuts with a serrated, poorly maintained, bladed weapon. I was able to collect some trace materials from the wounds that I'm having the lab run," The fact that the cuts weren't hesitant told her that the person doing this had killed before and held no emotional attachment to the kill. At least not in the moment. Which also meant that there was a high likelihood of it being unplanned and that usually meant the perpetrators didn't take the time and effort to clean up after themselves. It haunted her slightly that she knew these things.

Beth frowned a little more than she was liking at the moment and the lines were bound to start showing on her face soon if she was not careful. Whoever had killed Aurelius was a cold-blooded killer and they potentially had someone who would be on board for a very long time if it was discovered it was someone onboard. It would be someone they all knew and had kept something inside of them very secrete. "How long until the test results are back?"

Avira looked over to William, "I handed it over to the forensics team, they'll get the results in as soon as possible." Technology had developed to a point where most tests were able to be done rather quickly, but with something as important and delicate as this, with limited evidence to be processed, you wanted to be extra thorough and careful adding precious hours to the proceedings.

William made some notes on his PADD, as he listened. He took some comfort that Aurelius had put up a fight, but the suspect proved to be too much for him to handle. The description of the type of weapon intrigued him though. It spoke to the skill of the killer that he was able to use it with such skill.

"There were no indicators of peri-mortem or post-mortem damage to the victim," a fact that was only significant in establishing the motive of the crime, "the victim died of exsanguination through several lacerations and punctuations across to upper body." She fold her arms and waited for the others to respond to those revelations, although those last details weren't a huge surprise given the state that they had found the victim in.

William nodded and looked up at Avira, "Were you able to get any unknown DNA from the victim? Perhaps when he was defending himself he got some of the killers DNA on his hands or under his fingernails."

"There were some abrasions on the victim's hands, a lot of what might've been evidence was tainted by the blood," Avira had done a very thorough sweep of the body for any foreign materials, including genetic, "all evidence was collected and handed over to the forensics team as per Starfleet protocol, sir." She remembered one detail that she hadn't reported on yet, "the evidence shows that death occurred last night, the closest approximation is between 2100 and 2300 hours shipboard time."

“It is better than what we have had to work with so far,” Beth commented. She knew she had an alibi for then even if it was embarrassing and not something that she personally wanted to share with everybody. It was complicated and confusing what happened between her and her alibi but at least it gave two people an alibi and Got them off the suspect list.

William made a note in his PADD. While the time of death was not exact, but the investigative team now had a definitive starting point to determine Aurelius' actions prior to his murder. It also allowed them to narrow their suspect list down. He looked back at Avira, "Did you find anything else of note?"

Avira shook her head, there had been nothing of note in the victim's blood nor in his internal organs. Nothing to suggest that this was more than being jumped by an unknown assailant for reasons that weren't clear for those left to deal with the aftermath, "if I do find something else I'll be sure to let the investigating officer know."

Beth nodded slowly taking it all in as she ran her hands across the nearest console. "I want everyone interviews now that we know the time of this... murder because that is what it is now." She murmured sounding stronger than she had since the morning. Maybe it was the change of uniform or the soup she had forced down to stop the nausea that kept threatening to spill out

William nodded, "Of course Captain. We will leave no stone unturned. We've sealed Mr. Davis's quarters, and Chief Karalo is going to check and see if she can find anything pointing us in the right direction." At that moment the nearest comm panel crackled to life, "Security to Lieutenant Gerhard."

William strode over and pressed the activation button, "Go ahead."

"Lieutenant Darru and Warrant Officer Walker discovered Major King without an escort on the alien vessel. They reported he was behaving rather suspiciously and he has a wound on his forearm," the security officer replied. William looked over at the captain and doctor as he listened. "Understood, have Petty Officer Jackson meet them and escort the major to the temporary interview room. I'll be there shortly," he said and punched the comm panel off.

William then looked over at Avira, "A wound to the forearm, you did say that Mr. Davis put up a fight."

"I did say that," Avira wanted to point out that this wasn't an immediate conviction of Major King, she had worked with him to get the marines some more field medicine experience. He didn't seem the murderous type, "I also mentioned that it was done with an ill-maintained blade, Major King doesn't seem the type to not properly maintain a blade."

Beth opened her mouth a few times in surprise at the mere thought of it being the Marine Commanding Officer. She could not believe it was him but just like herself, it needed to be check over. “Investigate it all,” Beth instructed before she realised something. “I have an alibi for that time by the way. I was with someone.” The Captain admitted awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.

Avira her antennae twitched at that, it was super clear what the subtext was in that alibi, she almost wanted to congratulate her but decided not to comment on it, "I'm sure Chief Karalo will take everything into account in her investigations."

William looked made a note on the PADD he held. He knew it was none of his business who the captain was with, but he was curious why the captain felt the need to give herself an alibi. "Of course, I'll let the Chief know and can run down that angle. Now if you'll excuse me Captain, Doctor," he said before turning and making his way for the exit.

Beth nodded at the man and waited for him to leave before to looked at the Andorian and nodded. "I should go too. Thank you, Doctor." She muttered quickly wanting to get out of there and the awkwardness of her alibi that was going to bring up more questions.