Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(70)

“Isn’t that how Anthony Bourdain, the CNN celebrity chef, killed himself?” Gina asked.

“Yes, it is. I had one like that only a few weeks ago,” Smith replied. “Take a look at this furrow.” Turning to Gina and pointing with his pencil to discoloration on Paula’s lower neck, he said, “Furrows are these horizontal grooves that were made by the bathrobe sash. They’re more pronounced than I would have expected.”

“If this was a suicide, could the sash have scraped up her neck when she was against the door and let herself drop?” Gina asked.

“It probably did do that, but it wouldn’t make marks like these,” Rigler said, pointing to dark blue areas.

“If you were looking at these photos for the first time,” Gina began, “what would you say happened to her?”

“Wes, I’ll let you take that one,” the mortician said.

Rigler continued to stare at the picture. “I would say this is a homicide that was staged to look like a suicide. And I think I know why these ligature marks don’t make sense on a suicide victim. In police work when we’re at a crime scene, most often we’re seeing the end result. We try to imagine the series of events that took place to create this result. At first glance, this case had all the hallmarks of a basic suicide. As I studied the scene photos more closely, not everything was adding up. What scenario could have created these ligature marks? Suppose this was a homicide. The perpetrator surprised her from behind. Picture him forcing her down on her bed face first. Her face against a mattress would muffle an attempt to scream. He yanked the sash off her bathrobe and slipped it around her neck. With his knee against her back, he pulled hard upward to get her to stop struggling. That would explain the prominent horizontal furrows on the lower neck. He then took the sash, tied it to the bathroom door handle, looped it over the top of the door, tied it around her neck, and released her into the position where she was found.”

“Does that explain something else?” Smith asked. “The bruising on her upper neck closest to the ligature is less severe than one would expect following asphyxiation from hanging. There may have been less blood in the affected area—”

“Because she was already dead?” Gina interjected.

“Precisely,” Rigler answered.

Gina broke the silence that followed. “Did she leave a note?”

“No note,” Rigler responded.

“Does that mean anything to you when you’re trying to determine if this was a homicide?” she asked.

“Not at all,” he replied. “Contrary to popular belief, most suicide victims don’t leave a note.”

Gina flipped through the pictures. The bed was unmade. Newspapers and magazines were piled haphazardly on a table in the living room. Toiletries were stacked on the vanity in the bathroom. Dishes were in the sink. A Kentucky Fried Chicken bag was on the kitchen table next to a half-empty vodka bottle. Four empty vodka bottles, a plastic water bottle, and three Diet Pepsi cans were on a corner of the kitchen counter. It looks like she was behind in taking out the recycling, Gina thought to herself.

“Is there anything else you see that sways your opinion one way or the other?” she asked.

Rigler thought for a moment. “Gina, do you own a terry-cloth bathrobe?”

Surprised by the question, she answered, “Yes, I do. Why do you ask?”

“Because most women do and most women are remarkably consistent in the way they commit suicide. They choose a comfortable place, typically at home. They care a lot about how they’ll look when they’re found. That’s why it’s rare for women to use a gun or anything that will leave them disfigured. That includes bruises around the neck. Women who use a rope or electrical cord usually put a towel around their neck first to avoid leaving marks.

“If I were the investigator on the scene, I would have gone through her closet. A terry-cloth bathrobe sash would have been her first choice. It would have left fewer marks than a silk sash.”

“Is it too late to check her wardrobe?”

“It is. With the exception of the bathrobe, the sash, and any undergarments she might have had on, the police by now will have released all personal property to her family.”

“Is there anything we can do to have the police reopen the case?”

“I still know the guys on the detective squad, but we have an uphill climb ahead of us.”

“Why?” Gina asked.

“Because we just put together a theory of what we think happened,” Rigler explained. “Somebody else could look at these pictures and insist that everything we’re looking at is consistent with a suicide.”

“I’m sorry. I’m a little confused,” Gina said.

“Let me be devil’s advocate and argue the other side. There was no forced entry into the apartment, no signs of foul play, no indication of a struggle. Was the victim a substance abuser, alcohol, drugs?”

“A neighbor who knew her well told me she had a drinking problem,” Gina said quietly.

“That tips the scales even more toward a suicide conclusion.”

“Although not this severe, I’ve seen similar marks on necks that did not result from homicides,” Smith added. “Some people take a perverse joy in having their lover almost fatally strangle them during sex acts.”