Nadine

49. Autopsy

Dr. Cruor knocks on my door an hour later letting me know the body is here. All of the advisors and daddy is there when we go in.

"You're on lead princess."

"I want you to lead Dr. Cruor. Your senior doctor here."

"Very well. Rate of decomposition is very slow. Injuries follow your report. Removal of the head and leg. Ribs pointed out."

"Yes this is definitely the same body. Although the smell seems to be gone. And replaced by a new one. Yes and this long tube. The heart was on the end of it. About right here. Not in the same place as ours."

"Bone saw please and the smell is decomposition of a dead body."

"Well it's not pleasant and here is the saw. I'm going to start on the head." I grab another veil and tie it around my face.

He nods at me and starts cutting into a rib.

I get through the skull and into the brain area. "Brain is decomposed but there are remnants of tissue here. Indicating a brain did exist at 1 point."

"When the body was found, how probable was it that the other organs flew out?"

"Not likely. These ribs here had broken through the skin so there were openings, but no openings were near the stomach cavity. Advisor Dipak did have to cut me an opening so I could check."

"Ribs appear to be thicker than ours. Indicating the heart would be more protected."

I cut into the side of his face and check his teeth. "I see no fangs at all."

"What?"

I shake my head.

Dr. Cruor takes my spot. "What is this thing, princess?"

"I don't know."

"Let's remove the lower jaw and cut into the mouth that way. Maybe we need another angle."

I grab a mallet and hit the mans bottom jaw. It detaches.

Dr. Cruor turns the head over and checks his mouth in the new way. "Ah yes, here they are. But they are different than ours. They are smaller and there are more of them. An entire small row instead of 2. Check the bottom."

I take a knife and start slicing away the tissue near the bottom teeth. "Sure enough doctor. An entire 2nd row buried in tissue behind the first row." I pass the bottom jaw to Gunner so they can pass it around. "Be careful not to break your skin guys. It could still carry something toxic to us."

"Can one of you men help me roll this over please?" Dipak steps over to help Dr. Cruor.

They hand the bottom jaw back to me. "I wonder if this thing even takes blood? I mean it was absorbing the blood. But it didn't seem to be doing anything with it."

"It is possible blood was not what it needed, but it's also possible that the injuries were too great."

I pull it's shoe off. "Foot has 3 long toes instead of 5 short ones. Leg exterior is good." I cut into the leg lengthways. "Muscle tissue not present at all."

"What?"

"I'm not seeing any."

"Stop there and assist with spine removal."

"Yes sir." I move up and help to peel the tissue off the spine.

"This part takes a fair bit of time, gentlemen. Now is the time to take a break. Give us about an hour."

They all stay put. "Can one of you at least run out and tell Mary. 3 long toes and 2 sets of teeth. They are searching old records. It would give them more to look for."

Frode goes for the door. "I will and I can help them while you do this. Send for me when you move on please."

Daddy says, "Of course."

An hour later...

Dr. Cruor starts talking again. "Here it is. It has a thicker spine and shorter neck. However, there is a weak spot in the neck. Right below the base of the skull. See here. If they would get hit there with a sword, even with relatively light pressure, the head would fly off. But it is a very specific area. Other than that, this spine is very thick. It would take a lot of pressure to get through that."

"And the ribs are thicker. I'm assuming to protect the heart more. My guess is they are like vampires in that regard. A damaged heart or loss of head would kill them."

"It still could be one or the other though princess. We wouldn't know for sure until we would find another. Let's check this attached leg."

Mary hands me a folder. "This is it?"

"Yes little miss."

I open the folder. "It seems to be a similar creature. This is from a long time ago. Sealed by King Sandu of course but it's not even from this village. Is this you daddy?"

"No, that would have been my father's father and his village."

"The report says there was an attack on the vampire village from these things. There were lots of casualties. They found the only way to kill them was the removal of the head. The heart was nearly impossible to penetrate and the neck had to have been hit in a specific spot before the head would fly off. Dipak did you have any problems cutting the heart?"

"Not at all princess."

"What kind of weapons did they use back then? Anyone know?"

They all look at each other and shake their heads.

"It could have been their weapons couldn't penetrate the ribs or spine. Ours may do better. If not we would have to go for the weak spot on the neck. But considering Dipak cut through the tough part. I would assume our weapons are better now." I check the report. "Or Dipaks sword really is legendary."

Everyone busts out laughing.

"Also, it does say these bites are toxic to us but it gives a recipe for the antidote. I will start having it produced immediately. We will keep some in stock."

"Good idea princess." Daddy smiles at me.

"Honestly guys, they have attacked before. I would make sure all the guards know where that spot on the back of the neck is and also where the heart is. That would be my medical opinion."

Dr. Cruor stands back up. "I would agree. And let me see that recipe. Yes, we can start on this right away."

Mary is standing beside me tapping her foot.

"Yes Mary." I say, without looking up from the paper.

"Your momma's fancy dinner is in 1 hour miss, and you are covered in goo again and you don't smell pleasant."

"Mom is going to kill me daddy."

They all laugh again and Mary drags me out. We run all the way to my washroom laughing.