13
Verify the Alibi
If we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubt; but if we begin with doubts, and are patient, we shall end in certainties.
—Francis Bacon
On Thursday morning, Phil handed me the medical examiner’s report. I read the section about the time of death:
Estimated Time of Death
At the scene of death, these observations were made at 7:35 Monday morning. The corpse had cooled from the regular temperature of 98.6 F (37 Celsius). Normally, a body cools at one degree Celsius per hour for the first 12 hours. Room temperature was at 22 Celsius. Rectal temperature was 29.5 Celsius. These two base points indicate that death occurred within a 6–10 hour time window.
Liver mortis is in most cases completely developed and permanent within ...
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