My Sister's Grave (Tracy Crosswhite, #1)(72)

Meyers considered the objection. “As Dr. Rosa is an expert, she can answer as to her opinions and conclusions.”

Rosa said, “I can only say that normally it would not have taken long for animals to get to a body buried in that shallow of a grave.”

O’Leary paced. “I also noted in your report a wholly separate reason for your opinion that these remains were not buried immediately upon death. Can you explain why?”

“It has to do with the position of the body in the grave.” Dan displayed a photograph of Sarah’s remains on the flat-screen. The dirt had been whisked away to reveal a skeleton curled in what looked very much like a fetal position. The gallery fidgeted and emitted soft rumblings. Tracy lowered her gaze and covered her mouth, nauseated and light-headed. Her mouth watered. She closed her eyes and took short, quick breaths.

“It was clear the person tried unsuccessfully to bend the body to fit in the hole,” Rosa continued.

“How long before burial did rigor mortis set in?” Dan asked.

“I can’t say with any reasonable certainty.”

“Were you able to determine the cause of death?”

“No.”

“Did you note any injuries, broken bones?”

“I noted skull fractures at the back of the cranium.” She used a diagram to show the location of the fractures.

“Could you determine what caused the skull fractures?”

“A blunt-force trauma, but from what . . .” She shrugged. “It’s not possible to tell.”

Rosa then explained how her team accounted for everything, from bone fragments to the rivets from Sarah’s Levi’s and the silver-and-black snaps of her Scully shirt. She also said she had unearthed pieces of black plastic of the same material as common lawn and leaf bags, as well as carpet fibers.

“And could you draw any conclusions from that?”

“What I can conclude is that the plastic was either placed underneath the body prior to the body being placed in the hole, or—”

“Why would someone do that?”

Rosa shook her head. “I don’t have any idea.”

“What is the other possibility?”

“The body was buried in a plastic bag.”

Tracy struggled to control her breathing. She felt flushed. Perspiration trickled down her sides.

“Did you find anything else?”

“Jewelry.”

“What in particular?”

“A pair of earrings and a necklace.”

The crowd stirred. Meyers reached for his gavel but resisted rapping it.

“Can you describe the earrings?”

“They were jade, teardrop shaped.”

Dan presented Rosa with the jewelry in question. “Would you show us on your diagram where you located each earring?”

Rosa used a pointer to note the two locations. “Near the skull. The necklace we found near the top of the spinal column.”

“Did you reach any conclusions from the location of the jewelry?”

“I concluded the deceased was wearing the jewelry when placed in the grave.”



Vance Clark left his tortoiseshell glasses on the table and moved purposefully toward the witness chair. He held no notes, arms crossed across his chest. “Let’s discuss for a moment, Dr. Rosa, what you don’t know. You don’t know how the deceased died.”

“I do not.”

“You don’t know how the deceased received the blunt-force trauma to the back of her skull.”

“I do not.”

“The killer could have banged her head against the ground while strangling her.”

Rosa shrugged. “It could have happened that way.”

“You have no evidence to determine whether the deceased was raped.”

“I don’t.”

“You have no DNA evidence with which the killer could be identified.”

“I don’t.”

“You believe the victim was killed sometime before burial but you don’t know how long before.”

“Not with any certainty.”

“So you don’t know if the killer buried the body immediately after death, then went back some time later and moved the body to where it was ultimately found.”

“I don’t know that,” Rosa agreed.

“That could be a potential reason that rigor mortis had set in before the body was placed in this particular location, correct? Edmund House could have killed her, buried the body, then later went back to move it, and found that rigor mortis had set in, correct?”

Dan stood. “Your Honor, now the State is clearly asking Dr. Rosa to speculate.”

Meyers looked to be pondering the scenario. “I’ll allow it.”

“Dr. Rosa, do you need me to repeat my question?” Clark asked.

Rosa said, “No. The scenario is possible with one clarification. Rigor mortis dissipates after approximately thirty-six hours. So under the scenario you’ve posed, Mr. House would have had to have moved the body relatively quickly.”

“But it is a possibility,” Clark said.

“It is a possibility,” she said.

“So there’s quite a bit of speculation on your part, in addition to the science.”