The Captain I Married by Chance novel Chapter 81

“Dr. Hayes.”

The officers at the factory parted to let her through.

Nora walked unimpeded to the side of the body.

Just as the young officer had said, the scene was utter chaos.

The victim’s blood seemed to have been completely drained, mixing with the dirt on the ground into a dark red paste, a grisly sight that would haunt anyone’s dreams.

A denim bag lay about a yard from the body, its zipper violently torn off and discarded somewhere.

The bag had been turned inside out, evidence that someone had rummaged through it to ensure it was empty before carelessly tossing it aside.

Nora knelt beside the victim.

“Julia—” Just as she called out the name, Nora suddenly remembered Julia was on vacation.

“I need someone to take notes for me.”

She heard a rustle behind her as someone came to a stop.

Nora was completely in her element, her focus solely on the brutalized female body before her.

She didn’t even turn to see who had stepped up to help.

“Victim is female, estimated age between sixteen and twenty-five. Rigor mortis has set in. Preliminary time of death is one to two hours ago. The skin on her back is cyanotic, with brownish spots. Based on this, I’m narrowing the time of death to within the last hour.”

Nora paused, her gaze refocusing on the victim’s head.

“Multiple hematomas on the head, all from a blunt object. The victim likely suffered multiple severe blows to the head before death.”

“There are also impact injuries on the face, likely caused by the same blunt object as the head wounds.”

Nathan handed the notebook to Nora.

She took it instinctively. Just as she was about to open it, Nathan spoke. “In your opinion, is this case going to be difficult to solve?”

Nora set aside the idea of reviewing the notes, closing the notebook and putting it in her bag. “It’s hard to say,” she said softly.

“From the marks on the body, it looks like this was the killer’s first time. It was a crime of passion.”

“Usually, in a crime of passion, the killer acts in the heat of the moment. Both the method and the cleanup are crude and disorganized.”

“Some are so panicked they don’t even think to cover their tracks.”

“With a careful search, we should be able to find plenty of clues to help us identify the suspect quickly.”

“But the problem with this case is the location. There are no security cameras, and the factory is remote. It’ll be difficult just to screen potential suspects. By the time we find someone, they could have already destroyed all the evidence.”