Chapter 52: Track down (4)
Liam set down his cup with a faint smile as the rich flavor hit him. Perhaps it was too strong a stimulation for his palate so early in the morning. “Let’s discuss the case, then,” I suggested, pulling a newspaper from the corner and pointing at it with a butter knife.
“It doesn’t look like someone who jumped from a bridge, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Was it before or after?”
“Checking the lungs would be quickest.”
A drowned person’s lungs are distinct from those of someone thrown into the water post-mortem. However, to verify this would require navigating a maze of procedures. London has laws governing autopsies, which allow authorized individuals to perform them, but as private detectives and not police, we faced significant challenges.
“We’ll have to rely on their efficiency. Hopefully, there’s an available coroner who isn’t swamped with work.”
“There probably is. Given the state of the body, someone will rush over.”
The corpse was found completely desiccated, devoid of any blood. It was peculiar for a body washed up from the Thames to be so dry. It even led to sensational headlines like “The Return of Nosferatu!” Hopefully, no one took these cheap gossip rags seriously. Vampires, in the 19th century?