WW-Second Look

Good morning!  How is everyone doing today?  I hope you are having a good week so far and I hope you are ready to see what Winchester is up to!  Is Winchester going to solve the case again or is he going to find a problem in the case?  Find out when you read the next part of this story!

Second Look

Winchester sat at the table in the conference room scouring all of the evidence and writing notes about it.  He looked at the photo of the victim’s body as it hung from the ceiling. The first thing that West looked at was how big the victim was.  Marcus was a large guy so it would’ve been hard for the victim’s girlfriend to kill him and then hang him from the ceiling. Unless she was a bodybuilder, which was a possibility.

He looked at the autopsy report to see that the cause of death was strangulation.  He nodded. “Well..at least that’s confirmed. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that it was from hanging.  Someone could’ve strangled him first and then hung him to make it look like a suicide.” He wrote that down in his notebook so he could check into later.  He looked closer at the pictures of the autopsy to see the wounds around his neck. There was a very noticeable red line by his jawline, presumably from the rope that he was hanging from, but West also noticed a less noticeable red line that was right below Marcus’ adams apple.  He looked closer at mark but he couldn’t prove it was actually something worth looking into.

The autopsy report also stated that there was some alcohol in his system.  Marcus wasn’t much older than 21 so he could legally have alcohol but he didn’t have much.  He had a BAC of .1% os he might have been a little buzzed. Or maybe he and the killer had shared some drinks before the murder happened.  It made West think that the victim definitely knew the killer. The reports said there was no sign of distress or of a fight and there were no superficial wounds on Marcus’ body to show signs of a fight. 

But the closer that West looked at the body he saw something on the victim’s chest.  The more he looked at it, the more it looked like a pooling of blood. Maybe it was nothing but he needed to know more information.  West stood up and walked over to his dad’s desk. “Hey. Can you call the coroner and see if I can go over there? I have some questions about the autopsy report.”

Anthony picked up the phone and pressed a button.  “One sec.” He quieted as the phone rang. “Hey Lacey it’s Detective West.  My son has some questions on the Marcus Fueler case and he was wondering if he could come by…uh huh…okay perfect.  Thanks Lace.” He hung up the phone. “She said you can go on over. You realize the morgue is next door right?”

West started moving toward the door.  “Yeah…thanks dad!” He walked out of the building and jogged to the next building.  He had never met Lacey but he had heard a lot about her being the best mortician in the state.  And he hoped she would give him the answers he was looking for. He opened the door and walked into a small lobby.

A short brunette chick walked around the corner.  Her hair was tied up in 2 pigtails and she wore large hot pink glasses.  She smiled. “Hiya. Can I help you?”

He nodded.  “Hi. I’m Winchester West, Detective Anthony West’s son.  I’m looking for Lacey?”

Her smile widened as she reached over the counter.  “You look just like your dad but much younger obviously.  Lacey Hyland at your service. Let me open the door and I will take you back to see the body.”  She disappeared for a moment before opening a side door and leading West to the back. “So do you go by Winchester or something else?”

He shrugged.  “Either Winchester or West, whichever you prefer.  I go by either.”

They turned a corner into a very cold room.  Marcus’ body was laying on the table with a sheet covering his bottom half.  Lacey grabbed some gloves and snapped them on. “So Winchester. What can I help you with?”

West felt himself starting to become a little uneasy.  He had never seen an actual dead body before and it was really strange.  It also stunk to high heaven. He composed himself before asking the question.  “Uh…did you notice this mark on his neck?”  

He pointed toward the faint mark under Marcus’ adams apple.  Lacey grabbed a magnifying glass and looked at it closer. “Oh yeah…I saw that but I wasn’t sure what it was.  It actually looks like he may have had his tie too tight. It’s the perfect width for a tie…I thought I put it in the autopsy notes.  Did I not?”

West shook his head and showed her the notes.  “No. I did see anything about it. That’s why I wanted to talk about it.”  He pointed to the mark on his chest. “What about that? Do you know what that is?”

Lacey looked at it and furiously shook her head.  “It’s just a pooling of blood from someone not breathing for too long.  Most bodies have it. But…” She paused looking at it closer. “I do have to say that it is larger than a normal blood pool.  I may be from him just being a larger guy.”

“What if…”  West paused, trying to make sure he had all of his thoughts straight.  “What if it’s actually from someone standing on him? You said it looked like a tie which is what I thought as well.  The size is perfect for the size of a tie. But this on his chest looks like someone was actually standing on his chest to help prevent his breathing.  Someone was standing there, on his chest, and pulling his tie tighter and tighter until Marcus just stopped breathing. It wouldn’t take much for him to stop breathing since he was so large.”

Lacey’s eyes widened and she took a step toward him.  “That…makes the most logical sense for this possible.  But I’ll take it a step further. There are no definitive feet marks on the chest so someone could’ve been standing, or sitting on their knees, on a pillow.  It wouldn’t leave footprints or knee marks.” She pointed her finger in his face. “I like the way you think Winchester West. You would make a good detective one day.”

“Thanks, but I have to let my dad know.”  He turned and ran back to the precinct. He quickly walked up to his dad’s.  “Dad. I have a lead. I think that Marcus was strangled by a tie while some was standing or sitting on his chest.  And Lacey confirmed that it was possible.”

Anthony looked at him.  “How can you be sure? The girlfriend was the last person to see him alive and his phone records don’t show him calling anyone.  Same with his internet records like emails and Facebook. We still aren’t any closer.”

Winchester sat down in the chair across from his father.  “Dad. Reports don’t lie. People lie. And these reports are saying that he was murdered by someone strangling him with a tie while standing on his chest.  I think we need to interview the girlfriend again.”