Sycamore Gap: A DCI Ryan Mystery(10)

Ryan wasn’t sure how to feel about them referring to dead people as ‘deliveries’. In his world, a delivery meant a parcel or a gift of some kind. He didn’t understand how they could see rotting cadavers in the same light.

He set that thought aside and moved to stand opposite her, on the other side of the trolley.

“We appreciate you taking the time to come down from Edinburgh to look at this,” he began. “In real terms, it’s not an urgent case.”

She smiled slightly.

“Every case of unexplained death has a sense of urgency.”

He nodded, pleased that she was of the same mind.

“We’re particularly interested in determining the age of the body.”

“I understand. Doctor Pinter has begun DNA and toxicology sampling and is cross-referencing dental records. For the sake of completeness, I’ve already begun the process of analysing the remaining tissue samples for Carbon-14.”

The reaction from the two men seated opposite her was almost comical. Ryan adopted a carefully neutral expression in an effort to mask his total ignorance of the process of Carbon-14 dating, his basic training on the subject long since forgotten. Phillips nodded wisely and adopted a fatherly expression, with the same goal in mind.

“Would you like me to run through the process?” She offered.

Relief flooded both faces as they nodded.

“Radioactive carbon, or Carbon-14, naturally makes its way into the human body via the biological food chain. It decays over time at a mathematically predictable rate and, as soon as an organism dies, its body will stop taking on any new carbon.

“Now, during the 1950s and 60s, several leading nations, including the United Kingdom, authorised the testing of nuclear weaponry above ground. Although this stopped, the residual effect is a higher than normal level of Carbon-14 in the atmosphere. Almost double the normal level, in fact. This is particularly useful in my profession and yours, because we can test a body for carbon levels. The teeth absorb carbon very easily,” she added.

“So, you measure the carbon in someone’s teeth and compare it with known levels of atmospheric carbon around the time the teeth would have developed. Anyone born since the 1950s will have a higher level, right?”

Phillips was a quick study. He turned and met Ryan’s surprised face with a shrug.

“What? I watch the Discovery Channel, sometimes.”

“Sure, when you’re not watching Sky Sports,” Ryan muttered.

“In simple terms, yes, that’s the process” Millie agreed, cutting through their byplay like a primary school teacher. “Carbon readings have been taken every year since the ‘50s, so we can use our equations to extrapolate a birth date for our unknown victim. The results should be available very soon and will be useful in the event that nothing turns up on dental records.”

“That’s appreciated.”

Millington drew out a few sheets of paper from the folder she held.

“Here’s a copy of my preliminary report, which I’ve also sent to your office e-mail. Obviously, I will update it when the lab results come through, but I can already confirm the following things: the skeleton is definitely a female judging by the circular indentation in her pelvis, most likely of Western European ancestry. She would have enjoyed a comfortable socio-economic environment in her early years, including a balanced diet, since her bones are well-developed. The fact they remain largely intact rather than having crumbled would suggest a healthy specimen, of a height somewhere between five-feet-three inches and five-seven.”

Ryan listened while skim-reading the neatly typed report.

“Judging from the length of the femur, the molars, the cranium … I would put her age within the range of late teens to mid-twenties.”

Millie indicated the relevant areas on the skeleton lying before them, with the same detached voice cultivated by many medical and scientific professionals. From his position a good few feet away, Phillips tried not to hold it against her. He had never had a stomach for this part of the job and already he could feel his innards objecting to the close proximity with death.

For a murder detective, it was a bit of a conundrum.

“You say there were injuries?”

“Yes.” She drew out another sheet of paper showing the black outline of a skeleton, annotated with markers to denote the presence of abnormalities. “Ante mortem injuries include a couple of healed breaks in her left forearm, probably from a childhood fall. More interesting would be the break in her left wrist, which I would judge to have been sustained around the time of death, or shortly before. There is no evidence of the bone having knitted back together, you see.”