Creatures of God

A Gross Tearing

"... running posteriorly through the base of the subject's right neck... "

At this point, Elliot knew the cause of death was from bleeding out through the jugular vessels at the neck.

" ... and extending across the upper back, running diagonally toward the midline at approximately... "

He paused to take some measurements.

"... 25 degrees. It is about 14 centimeters at its greatest width and 3-4 centimeters in depth. The total length of the wound measures approximately 66 centimeters."

Elliot's eyes widened. The margins of the injury were jagged, reflecting a gross tearing of the muscle tissue. The cuts were not straight and neat, like those produced from a sharp metal blade.

What could have produced this injury? Elliot thought.

He noticed several small clean edges along the upper aspect of the laceration.

Are these... teeth marks?

Elliot looked at the margins a second time, and couldn't find the same smooth edging anywhere else.

Instead, the young pathology doctor found a couple other sets of lacerations:

"Across the right temporal aspect of the head, there are three linear cuts of varying length, the longest of which is about 7 centimeters. Each cut runs horizontally, in parallel fashion, 2 centimeters apart from one another and involving the right ear."

Multiple parallel cuts were typically caused by a weapon with metal teeth, or by fingernails or claws making a grabbing or slashing motion across a person's body and causing simultaneous cuts.

Elliot studied a second set of parallel lacerations:

"At the right shoulder, there are a total of four short, linear cuts; three of which lie anteriorly at the acromioclavicular joint, and run posteriorly in a horizontal parallel fashion for 3-4 centimeters."

Translation: an animal had anchored its claws at the right side of Dr. Berman's head and at his right shoulder, and then had bitten at the base of the Professor's right neck and torn backwards toward the upper spine.

The Professor was killed with a single ripping force.

Elliot studied the main laceration again. There was only one set of punctated marks, not multiple ones, meaning there was only one bite.

One bite? That meant one assailant, and likely a large, strong one.

In addition, there was very little missing tissue from the tear.

The single ripping bite was not made with the intent to eat. It was made with the intent to injure, to kill Dr. Berman, either by snapping the spinal cord at his neck or disrupting the blood supply to his head. Perhaps both.

Elliot searched for other findings. There were no wounds at Dr. Berman's palms or forearms and no debris noted under his fingernails, as you might see with someone who was trying to fend off an attacker.

Dr. Berman did not have a chance to fight, Elliot deduced, because he was attacked from behind.

Elliot looked up and away to give himself a fresh perspective.

Alessandro could not have killed the Professor, he concluded.

No human could have killed the Professor with a single bite in such a brutal way. Some animal -- some creature -- had killed the Professor.

How?

The animal would have had to have made its way downstairs to the lab. It was not a particularly easy or direct route to travel.

If the murder was specific to Dr. Berman, there had to be a connection between his death and the human time capsules.

Elliot was reminded of Alessandro once again.

Alessandro, where are you?

Alessandro had been missing since the day of the murder.

Elliot thought about all of the prior time the two of them had spent together: meditating and praying; exploring the different parts of the Center; meeting other students; meeting Mimi...

It hit Elliot.

Images of the nighttime campus encounter with the canines filled Elliot's head. For the same reason the mongrels dared to cross the Center's perimeter, the animal murderer had made his way underground to seek out the Professor...

An animal had killed Dr. Berman because of Alessandro!

Thanks for reading! Next up, one of my favorite chapters in the book! Stay tuned...