This is #3 in the series of fantasy murder modus operandi.
A middle-aged man was discovered dead in his flat. The smell of putrid flesh alerted the neighbours who called in the police. The coroner at the scene estimates that the victim has been dead for more than 10 days already. The victim is an obese male, 47 years old.
According to the pathologist, the cause of death is cardiac arrest, otherwise known as the shorthand for unconfirmed cause of death. Based on the general health condition of the victim, who had a medical history of angina and clogged coronary artery, it is likely that he died of a heart attack in his home. The tox screen did not show signs of any drugs or poisons in the victim.
The police did not find anything amiss in the house. According to the neighbours, the victim is unmarried and lived alone. He never spoke to any of the neighbours, so no one could pinpoint the last occasion they saw him alive. The police eventually ruled out homicide.
They aren’t right, are they?
The victim did die of cardiac arrest, but not due to a heart attack. The murderer followed the victim home one late night and subdued him by hitting him at the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious. Next, the murderer took off the victim’s shoes and watch, and placed the victim on a rubber mat. Plugging an electrical cord with the two live wires exposed into the electrical outlet, the murderer attached the live wire to the crevice between the victim’s toes, knowing that electric burns will leave mark, so by limiting the area of contact to an easy-to-ignore location in the body, the C.O.D will not be revealed. The two live wires will form a complete circuit in the victim even though he is grounded. The murdered then turned on the power supply, sending jolts of electricity through the victim. The only entry and exit of electricity occurred between the toes, for the rest of the body was insulated. The victim died of electrocution. The power supply in the house fused, and the murder turned off the power supply and kept the wires. The murderer reset the power supply at the fuse box, and after ensuring all charge has left the victim, the murderer removed the mat and put the victim’s shoes and watch back on.
The murderer left the flat and locked the doors, gleeful.
Will the tiny burn marks be discovered during autopsy? Will there be one?
Let’s assume the pathologists to be rather careless and stupid in this cases. Even if they saw the burn marks, between the toes, it could be blemishes or scars from previous injury/insect bites. Only when they do a histology would they realise it’s a burn mark.
I just finished reading all three. I AM IMPRESSED!
Thank you, thank you. I think the 4th one is more exciting!