Page 157 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Slow Burn

any black smoke or any dispersal of tissue or ash. Therefore, the
evidence is consistent with the classic model, as recently discussed in
several scientific journals. Now we need to establish the time of death
and any related information. Was the victim alone in the apartment
throughout the cremation? Did he habitually drink while cooking?
How overweight was he?”
I knew some of the answers would have to come from me, after a
lot of digging. It was hard for me to share Labelle’s interest in this
scene, despite its rarity. “Do you want me to question the
neighbors?”
She looked up from the floor briefly. “Yes. Get me a profile of the
man’s habits—who visited him with any regularity, where he went to
buy his liquor, how often he appeared drunk in public. And you
might as well start with the occupant of Apartment 1. She has the
look of a snoop, a most valuable resource for us. I will wait for the
forensics people. They may need some special instructions. You can
take the car back to headquarters. I’ll ride with them.”
I left gladly, taking care not to trip on the sill of the kitchen door in
my haste. As I was going down the stairs the crime lab contingent
arrived. I let them in, and was confronted by the inhabitant of
Apartment 1. “You’re just the person I want to see,” I told her.

<< 2 >>

I found Labelle back in the office when I arrived around eleven
o’clock. She was studying a series of photographs of the body,
comparing them to pictures in an open volume of anatomical
reference.
“It’s not right,” she said. “Almost, but not quite.” Her voice
betrayed no disappointment, however. She was on the trail of
something suspicious, and that was good news for me. Routine
investigations could make her cranky.
“What? Don’t tell me the guy died of old age.”
“Very funny, Duncan. Look and listen and learn. The ambient
conditions were correct for slow cremation, and the stove and bottle
seemed to clinch it. But look at the angle of the body—or, rather, the
longitudinal axis of this pile of ash—in relation to the stove. If he had
fallen either backward or sideways, his head would not have been

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