Manner Of Death English Translation

Chapter 7.1

"We have arrived. You can leave now." I say to the man in my car. Tann looks at his car parked in the hospital parking lot then turns to me.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?"

"I want to be alone. You can go." My eyes go to the emergency room which is now lit by a bright light.

"But the murderer could come back at any time. If I'm with you, I can help you."

Tann has been insisting on helping me find the killer since we left the restaurant. He suggested that we should go back to my house and set a trap to catch him. Tann will then stay with me to help me catch him. I of course very quickly refused. Why would I invite him to my place? I still don't trust this guy. It's like welcoming a cobra with open arms.

I unlock the doors encouraging him to exit. "Thanks for your help, but I can take care of myself."

"Dr Bunn," Tann still refuses to leave the car. "I don't want to help you because I'm hiding something, but because Jane was my girlfriend. I want the person who murdered her to go to jail. Can you understand that?"

"Trying to persuade me is pointless," I breathe out slowly, "if you want to live safe then stay calm. Don't tell the police or anyone about any of this. I don't know if the murderer will know that you learned it from me. And one more thing, do not contact me anymore. You already know what you wanted to know." Tann doesn't seem to want to leave, "What are you going to do now? Are you going to do what the killer asked you to do? There's no way I'll let you do that."

"Although it doesn't concern you, I have to do it. I don't want more people close to me getting hurt." I start a new game just to see his reaction. "This motherfucker promised me that if I do what he wants, he'll leave me alone."

Tann stares at me, "I won't let you do that. If you tamper with the autopsy report, the killer will get away with it."

"No, I am sure the police will find other evidence that will lead to the fact that Janejira was killed. That will contradict my report. And when the time comes, I will tell the police that I have been threatened."

"What if they don't find anything? You said it yourself, the police might be involved." Tann continues to insist. I turn to him. If he's the real murderer, he would have accepted that idea, he wouldn't contradict me like that.

"Tann I beg you." I intimate him more calmly. It's my only talent after all—acting. "Do me a favor, don't do anything. I don't want anyone coming to hit me again or any of my loved ones being hurt."

I manage to calm him down and he starts to open the door. "I'll come see you until you agree to let me help you."

Tann leaves the vehicle and before I can even answer, he closes the door. My eyes follow his tall figure towards the black car parked among the others in the parking lot in front of the hospital. Tann leaves a great impression on me. The alibis he gave me are solid, all his reactions seem honest. Despite this, I felt that some things were missing. The first is the cause of his forehead injury which remains unknown and vague. The second is his reaction to the loss of his girlfriend. It had struck me from the first day, there is not a shadow of sadness in him.

I don't know if it's because he's a murderer or because of my prejudices against him in the first place which distorted my perception of reality.

...

I look puzzled at a bag containing a colossal amount of Khao Tom Mud on the forensic service table. "Who owns this bag Tik?"

The nurse laughs, "Your fanboy left this for you this morning."

"My fanboy?" I ask him, raising my eyebrows.

"That kid, Sorrawit. The big one who came yesterday. He came by motorcycle to give you some Khao Tom Mud before you go to high school. He told me that his family sells it. He wanted you to have it. "

"Ah..." I feel a headache coming on. Sorawit's intentions were clear as day. "If I eat everything I will die of diabetes that's for sure. Let me take two and give the rest to the rest of the team please."

Tik gives me an ok sign, "Ok Doctor."

I go to the table to take my Khao Tom Mud out of the bag on the table where I see a little pink post-it inside with a word written on it: 'For Dr. Bunnakit, if you like it, please order more.'

And under the message is the phone number of the owner of the desserts. I smile and shake my head finding this kid endearing. I take the note and hand it with the bag to Tik. "If you like them, you can recommend them."

Tik takes the bag and reads the post-it before bursting into laughter. "Oh Doctor! This boy has a crush on you."

"Well, I can't return his feelings. It's the Patient-Doctor Code of Ethics you know?" Then I sit down in my office chair. "There was an assault today, right? Bring the patient in."

When I leave the emergency room it is already noon. Working allows me to clear my head and helps me forget my problems. I stop watching the ambulances parked in front of the emergency room. What am I waiting for? I will have to go out to eat, I have two bodies from different districts waiting for me in the autopsy room. And I have an intern for a class this afternoon.

I thought you said you would come see me until I let you help me.

Then I move away from the service, the absence of Tann today can be explained by 3 things. One is that he is the murderer. He must be happy with what I told him. The second is that Tann is not the murderer but he doesn't want to see me because he is afraid of me or of having problems. The third is that he's too busy with classes or Janejira's funeral and couldn't come. Guess I have to wait until tonight to find out.

..

"..you must understand that during the post-mortem period, the stiffness of the small joints will be faster than that of the bigger ones. The last to stiffen will be the hip, which occurs between 6 and 12 hours after death as you can. see it on that person." I lift the dead, cold leg of the corpse but instead of only lifting the leg, the hip follows causing the body to lift off the table as if I were lifting a log. "In this case, the hip is already completely blocked. The rigor mortis is maintained until the body begins to decompose, which takes about 24 hours after death."

I turn to my student, who is looking at me looking a little elsewhere. The intern who studies with me today is the one who auscultated me the night of my attack. His name is Boem.

"Do you have any questions?" I put my leg back on the table. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh... um, nothing, sir." Boem tries to recover.

"You look a little tense. We can continue our lesson another time." It's not the first time that one of my interns couldn't take my class to the end. The first case I had was an intern falling apart in front of me just 5 minutes after starting.

The young intern looks at me and says "May I ask you a question, Professor?"

I am relieved. "Yes of course. If I go too fast..."

"Are you seeing Fai now, Professor?" This question is completely unrelated to our lesson for the day and I am a little surprised.

"What do you mean by 'are you seeIng Fai'?" And then I remember one thing. A few days ago, gossip surfaced among the nurses about Boem having a crush on Fai and how Professor Bunnakit was about to pull the rug out from under him. I can only shake my head at this absurdity.

A little embarrassed, he said nervously, "I mean... dating. Actually, Fai told me you see each other outside of work." I am completely confused by what he is telling me. Fai said what? I admit I intended to get closer to her but I didn't imagine for a second that it would be so quick. "It's okay, let it go. It's just that I can't reach her today. I just wanted to ask you if you saw her. Professor?"

"If you can't reach her then neither can I." I find that weird. The last time I spoke to Fai was the day she visited me in the hospital. "Didn't she come to work?"

"Fai is scheduled for afternoon service. Yesterday she asked me to call her to wake her up at noon. But when I called, she didn't answer me. Maybe you can try calling her. I'm worried, I just want to know if you can contact her."

He really loves this woman even though she was thinking of someone else. I am ashamed of myself.

I lost my phone and therefore I have lost Fai's number too. I haven't called her for several days... I wave Anun to come in and open the corpse's skull. "You can leave Boem. I'll take care of it, give me Fai's number. I'll try to reach her. You should wait for her in the emergency room. She'll be there for her afternoon shift, you'll see."

Boem still looks worried when I wave him out of the autopsy room. He raises his hands in respect and takes off his gloves and green blouse. I watch his back as he walks through the door. A feeling of apprehension seizes me. After the autopsy, I go to the emergency room and wait until the start of Fai's service at 4:00 p.m.

I hope nothing has happened to her...

...

The number you dialed is not available...

I squeezed the phone into my point, tapping the wheel angrily. I let out a groan to let out my frustration.

Boem and I waited until 7:00 p.m., but Fai was unreachable, a sense of panic invaded the entire emergency department. We tried calling her number non-stop but the same message was all we got. Boem was still trying to contact her family while I left to be alone in the car.

The killer knows that I gave information to others.

Oh s**t. I shouldn't have told Tann about it. My attempt to use the information I have to trick him into leading another victim —someone who is close to me. I have no idea how the killer would know that I spoke to Tann about what happened. He might have done something that warned the killer, just like Pert.

Or the reason the killer found out is because I told him myself?

Tann.

I rest my head wearily on the seat. That's enough. I pick up my phone, dial Tann's number and bring it to my ear, looking outside into the night.

[Yes, Dr Bunn?] Tann responds quickly. I hear children's discussions in the background.

"You won" I answered him in a hazy voice. "I'll do whatever you want. But if he pays you stop hurting my relatives..."

"Release Dr. Fai and the Prosecutor please—" My voice trembles without being able to control it, I close my eyes. "Take me instead. You can do whatever you want with me. I'll do what you ask of me. But don't hurt them..."

[Wait, what are you talking about?] Tann sounds panicked. But I can't believe it. [Where are you?]

"You know where I am. I'm going home. Let's deal with this face to face..."

[Bunn, get it right! And tell me what's going on!]

"See you at my house." I hang up and put Pert's phone in the seat next to me. I grab my bag and pull out an object.

The sound of the protective paper covering the scalpel is heard. I hide the blade in an envelope and put it in my pocket on my chest. The scalpel is ready to use.

...

I turn the key and open the door, I enter the house which had been in complete darkness for several nights. I take a deep breath, my heart pounding. The house is frozen, making my fingers cold. I look in the living room on the alert and turn on the light.

No sign of an intruder.

I tiptoe from the living room to the kitchen, turning on every light in the house. I take the scalpel out of my pocket, holding it firmly in my right hand. I reach my bedroom door and turn the handle slowly and open it.

Suddenly, a large hand in a black glove grabs me and covers my mouth from behind. I panic completely. I try to free my right arm but the man behind me is too strong. I throw my left elbow back with all my strength. I must have touched something because my attacker let go of my hands. I pull away quickly and turn to face him, completely terrified holding my scalpel. I finally have the opportunity to see the appearance of my attacker for the first time. He's a man, tall with a hoodie hood. He wears big black sunglasses and a hood over his head camouflaging his face. He stands completely still when he sees me holding a scalpel in my hand.

"No need to hide from me Tann! Show me your face and let's talk."

The man in front of me does not answer and approaches me. I point the scalpel in front of me, stepping back. He doesn't seem to be afraid of the object. He pulls me back until my back hits the wall. He puts his hand in his pocket and takes out a black object. My legs no longer hold me back from his sight.

The barrel of the revolver is pointed at my head, "Drop the knife." Says the muffled voice of the man. I let go of the scalpel, my heart trembling like a leaf. "Raise your hands and face the wall."

I raise my hands and turn around. The intruder grabs my arms, I can feel the cold cannon on my right temple. I close my eyes.

"It was pointless Doctor. Tell me, how many people do you want to lose before you figure it out? Oh.. I get it, you don't think of anyone but yourself, a selfish person. It seems like I have to change the method. Well then... How should I punish you? "

I open my eyes slowly, his voice seems strange, it sounds strange.

It's not Tann's.

But whose is it?!

He ties my hands with a rope. Once the abuser stops, he turns me around to face me. Every word I intended to say to the murderer's face had evaporated when I realized that the voice was not Tann's.

Suddenly, I catch something out of the corner of my eye. I see someone approaching calmly in my direction, so quietly that my attacker does not notice. This person was holding a vase from my living room in his hands. He looks at me, gesturing for me to shut up so as not to alert the assailant.

But my gaze can't fool him: he turns his eyes in the same direction to see what I was staring at.

When he turns, Tann appears with the vase above his head. He goes to crush it on the head of the man but the latter narrowly avoids it. The vase hits his shoulder. I hear the sound of the object breaking followed by the cry of the abuser. As the vase crashes, his glasses fall off. "Be careful, he has a gun!!" I warn Tann, trying to free my hands from the rope. I feel completely useless.

The shock must have hurt that bastard. Tann tries to grab his right arm which was holding the gun. With their similar physique, the fight is intense. Tann knees the aggressor in the belly. The aggressor doubles over in pain. Tann takes the opportunity to kick the hand holding the weapon, causing it to slide into a corner of the room.

Seeing this, I rush over and step on it so as to prevent it from being easily retrieved.

"I'm going to kill you" Tann said with a growl. Tann advances towards the impatiently waiting murderer.

Suddenly, the hooded man rushes over to Tann and throws an uppercut. I scream because I see the blow hit his chin making him fly. He holds on to the shelf, but the man takes the opportunity to run away. Tann wastes no time and runs after him leaving me alone in the house. My strength is abandoning me, I can no longer stand up. I lean against the wall and slowly slide to the floor.

A few minutes later, Tann returns extremely unhappy. He wipes the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, "He walked away. This bastard is as nimble as a monkey, he had already jumped up the wall at the end of the street when I tried to catch up with him. "

I watch Tann from where I'm sitting as he rushes over to me. "You're hurt?" He releases my wrists quickly but I'm still shocked. He pats every part of my body to see if I'm hurt before hugging me. I thought I could not be more shocked but I was wrong.

"It doesn't matter whether you let me help you or not, I won't let you go through this alone."

His oath almost makes my heart stop beating.

...

I open the fridge to take a cold compress and throw it at the person sitting on one of the chairs in the kitchen. "Put it on your wound or it will swell even more."

"Thanks," Tann takes a look at the compress and gently applies it to his jaw. "It's a good thing you called me. I don't know what would have happened to you otherwise."

"How did you find out where I lived... take that off in two minutes," I have to check his chin to assess the severity of his injury. I reach out to touch his jaw and check if it's fractured. He jumps in pain when I do it.

"After you called me I knew immediately that something was going to happen. I went to the hospital and asked for your address. They agreed to give it to me."

I nod as I bend down to grab a Kleenex from the table. "Open your mouth."

Tann obeyed wisely. I insert my index and middle fingers of each hand into his mouth with the Kleenex to absorb the excess saliva. I touch his teeth and jaw, moving them up and down. It is intact, no fractures. "Ah... ow, wai hal,"

I ignore his attempt to speak and grab his lower lip. It has an incision of about 12 cm in the left oral mucosa, which is what happens when teeth meet a lip after being punched.

I remove my hand from Tann's mouth, throw the handkerchief and wash my hands. He brings his hands to his jaw with an embarrassed expression on his face. "Now I know what it feels like to be sexually assaulted."

"No it's much worse." I countered, shaking my hands full of water over the sink.

"Have you been sexually assaulted?!" Tann answers shocked.

I sigh, "No, but I have examined rape victims before. Their physical and mental conditions are broken." Tann looks at me, relieved. "Regarding your mouth injury, you have to get stitched up. You have to go to the emergency room."

"Can I avoid it? What would the nurses say when they saw me like this after I went to your place?"

"Then you'll have to go to a private clinic. Money shouldn't be a problem for you." Once my hands dry, I walk over to the area where the altercation took place. The remains of the ceramic vase are scattered on the floor. The assailant's pair of sunglasses and gun are in a corner of the room. I crouched down to examine them. I hope I can find a clue to analyze in the lab.

"Should we call the police?" Tann asks.

I wait a moment before answering. "What will happen if we call them? Another person will disappear."

"It doesn't matter who disappears, I think your safety should be the priority."

I turn to face Tann who is staring back at me worried. After what happened today, I realize that I trust him. Despite my doubts about some of his actions, I at least know that he and the Masked Man are not the same person.

"I can't do this. Are people disappearing because of you? You can't understand." I present the facts in an impassive tone. Tann remains silent as if he has something on his mind.

Still squatting, I see a drop of blood on the ground, impossible to know if it belongs to Tann or to the intruder. The image of Tann being hit by the man resurfaces. I admit that I was extremely scared.

The second image that comes back to me is that of Tann hugging me.

It is not a common gesture between men. He's been acting like he wants to get closer to me in another way twice. There is like a hidden intention behind all of this, to hold my hand in a restaurant and hug me. It's more than just a concern, I don't know what to feel. He is very handsome, I have to admit. But in a situation like this, I can't afford to fall.

"What do you think of that?" After a short silence Tann explains his idea to me, "You submit the autopsy report saying it's suicide just to make the murderer feel safe. And at the same time, we're working together to find him. No one should be hurt. And if we catch the killer we'll tell them you were threatened to tamper with the report. "

"I already made this offer to you yesterday in the car but you were against skewing the autopsy report."

"You said you expected the police to find evidence that Jane was killed. But what I mean is we won't say anything to the police. We'll do that in between us. You and me; I may not be as smart as you but we should be able to find something. I have information about Jane; you have your expertise as a forensic scientist. I think this is the best solution."

I sit down listening to what Tann tells me. Would he have come up with this plan before I learned that he and the murderer are not the same person. Would I have assumed he was trying to convince me to give a false report to the police? I would have found it suspicious but now I believe in him, not completely but enough. I'm getting up again. "Let me think about it one more night and I'll let you know what I think about it. You should really go to the hospital now."

"I'm not going anywhere without you," Tann replies resolutely. I turn around suddenly to look at him.

"Don't tell me you're going to stay here."

"The murderer broke into your house and you think you live here alone?"

I frown, "How do I let a stranger live under my roof?!"

Tann chuckles, "Because we're still strangers, Bunn?" Too much talk to make his lip wound bleed again. I look up at the ceiling, annoyed.

"Get in the car."

...

I drive Tann to a private clinic in the city center. I drop him off in front of the emergency room before heading to the parking lot to find a place to park. I go back there to wait on one of the chairs in the waiting room. ERs in a private clinic don't seem as busy as those in public hospitals that I'm more familiar with. I watch the luxurious door automatically open and feel the knot in my chest relax. It was as if I had finally shared what has been bothering me with someone.

I never thought that Tann would be that person, the one who knows everything about what happened to me and who helps me understand what's going on. Has the number one suspect become my partner? My murderer radar has blown.

Half an hour later, Tann comes out with a bag of prescription drugs in his hand. He seems embarrassed.

"It's like being assaulted again." Tann told me, covering his mouth.

"I have two stitches. The doctor told me the wound is deep; the blood kept flowing."

"I told you, you needed to be stitched up." I guide him to the parking lot. Tann wearing joggers, walks right next to me.

"Where are you going next?" he inquires.

"To a secure place." I plan to return to the hotel.

"So come to my house." He offers.

"No thanks."

"Stay at your house then, but I'll spend the night with you. What will you do if the guy comes back?"

I don't know if I should be more scared to see the murderer return or that we were sleeping in the same place. Naturally, it should be the first, because having Tann near me shouldn't be as dangerous as waiting for the murderer, who might come back to hurt me. "Do as you like... but I'm not going back to that house."

"So let's go to my place. It's just Downtown. It's safer."

Actually, I didn't want to go home, nor did I want to bring Tann to the hotel. I wanted to keep the hotel as a place where I could take refuge without anyone knowing. I press the button on my key to open the car. "Let me go home to get some clothes first."

Tann nodded. "Of course I'll get my car back too."

I open my door and slide into the driver's seat. I drive off while waiting for Tann to close his door to leave the parking lot.

"Doc, the gun? What do we do with it?" he asks.

"Usually forensic science is the one who gets the gun. They can identify the owner by the serial number engraved on it. But if it's an unregistered gun, it's more difficult. I'll have to take a look."

"We still need the police anyway." Tann rubs his chin deep in thought. "But the killer who has contact with the police will know what we are doing and you will be in danger... it's difficult." Tann lets out a deep sigh, tilting his head on the seat support. "You should keep the gun to protect yourself since we can't use it to find the killer."

I fix my gaze on the road, "I guess..."

"So you go home to get the clothes and the gun. You get back in your car and you follow me to my house." He orders me.

"Hmpf," I reply, my gaze still fixed on the road. I occasionally take a look at his demeanor, which is serious and solemn. I want to trust him completely, but something continues to bother me. When I feel a sense of mistrust arise, I try to remember that they are not the same person. I witnessed the fight between them with my own eyes. I take deep breaths to calm myself down. Sticking to Tann's side should be the safest thing to do right now.