sᴛᴏᴄᴋʜᴏʟᴍ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ | ˢᵒˡᵇʸ ✔

0.04

BRENNEN POV

"Killers not stabbing, cause of death is unknown, but given the lack of defensive wounds, arterial spray and splatter, the victim was dead before the killer began removing her skin. I'm just a criminalist, not a behavioralist, but it would appear the crime is about control, not about pain and suffering. What we're seeing here is purely the result of postmortem work"
It should have been a reassuring thought, that the victim was already dead before the first slip of the cold blade beneath the surface of her skin... And yet, Brennen, found himself almost slightly more horrified. A sexual sadist predator with an overwhelming compulsion to inflict pain and suffering was something he could almost understand. But this... A killer who skinned his victims for sport?
"Remember, the postmortem mutilation is mostly to the torso and upper thighs. If you look at the bloodstain, you can see feathering at the top and imprints here, which I believe are from the victims shoulder blades pressing into the sheet limiting the absorption of blood. Orienting ourselves, then here is the head, the shoulders, the torso, the legs given that... "
"The voids are on either side of the victims thighs" Brennen says
"From the lower part of the killers legs, I presume. Essentially, he was straddling her body, the front part of his shins pressing against the mattress on either side of her thighs, which shielded that part of the sheet from blood"
"He incapacitates his victim" Brennen mumbled, trying to form a sequence of events in his mind, "then, most likely, he sets the scene, the champagne, handcuffs, single rose. He'd want to get everything out before things get too... Messy".
Alex grabbed his own coffee "fair assumption"
"Next he would strip the victim, expose her skin" Brennen mumbled,
"Then- he climbs aboard, positions himself astride the victims naked body, and begins to... Skin her. Why?" Brennen questions his squad member. Alex drugged "part of the ritual? Maybe the killer is really some kind of necrophiloac, and it's these moments with the body that are most fulfilling for him. The strips of skin are thin, and based on the ME's study of the first victim, they're precise, methodical. In his estimation, the killer spent at least an hour on the filleting process, if not two or three" Alex explained.

"Semen?" brennen asks, "signs of sexual assault?"
"Tests came back inconclusive, no signs of any sexual assault" Alex explains further
"I don't get it. He gains access, incapacitates his victims. Drugs them?"
"TOX screen pending"
"Then starts in with the knife. For at least an hour?"
"With some skill" Alex provided "ME suggests either a hunter or maybe even a butcher. But based on the smooth even strokes, our killer has some experience"
"kind if blade?" Brennen questions further
"Most likely something small and razor-sharp, perhaps even designed especially for the job. Here's the other point of consideration. Often in these kinds if crimed, the killer will eventually set down his weapon. You know resting for a moment, readjusting his grip, or even laying down the knife while getting on and off the bed. A reflexive moment, not even thought about, but an act leaves a blood imprint of the blade behind ad further evidence, in a case where a killer spends this much time with a body at a scene this bloody, it's kind of evidence you almost expect".

"Good assumption" Brennen said smiling at his worker, then his phone rang,
"Detective Taylor, another body found, slash wounds, champagne, rose, handcuffs, male"

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