Manner Of Death English Translation

Chapter 2

I bring a glass of hot milk to my lips and take a sip. I look at what I just wrote down on my computer screen. I often see people with different jobs from mine working in cafes with a cozy atmosphere. I would like that too but with a job that involves photos with corpses that have not yet been touched by my scalpel and those with guts exposed it was simply impossible. If I take this outside, I'll probably be fired by the other customers. So I stay and work at home, in a calm and cold house, alone. I'm working on the autopsy report of Janejira, the poor woman whose death was made up to make it look like suicide.

I open Janejira's file to look at the pictures of her neck cut open, exposing the bruised muscles. My first palpation at the crime scene indicated a fractured larynx, and by opening it I was able to confirm it. It's solid proof that shows that she was indeed strangled. When you hang yourself, the tissues are not damaged like this unless you decide to put a long rope around your neck and jump off a building. If it was then indeed the damage would be enormous. But Janejira or any sane person wouldn't think of killing herself that way.

I have seven days to complete the autopsy report but it could be postponed if the lab results took longer than necessary to arrive. So I have time to wrap it up. After writing a general description of the body, I put my pen down and take a sip of hot milk to relax. I look at the clock which tells me 9:00 p.m. It's not too late to make a call at this time.

[Hello, Bunn...] A pretty voice answers my call. I learned earlier today that Fai is off duty tonight.

"Hey, Fai. Were you asleep?"

[It's only 9:00 pm, Bunn. I'll go to bed around 11:00 p.m. or later. Whatever... you wanted something?]

I clear my throat to clear the last traces of milk from my throat then answer "I wanted to share the autopsy results with you. It's a shame we couldn't do it together."

I hear Fai's laugh at the end of the line answering, [I know. I wanted to see that too. So she really got strangled.]

"Probably the muscles in her neck were totally bruised, and her larynx was completely shattered. I rarely see staged murder cases, it's fascinating."

[Even if we wanted to pass it off as suicide, would you never have Dr. Bunn? The murderer must be crying like a baby right now.] She replies amused. I laugh with her.

"Of course! You know I don't make mistakes."

A memory suddenly recalls me after speaking. I feel bad when I think about it. It's something that I try to bury as deep as I can in my mind. But it still haunts me sometimes. Do I never make mistakes...? To be completely honest it was a lie... I made a mistake. once. Only one small mistake. But it has led to huge problems.

[I trust you. You are an expert...] I'm so lost in my thoughts that I totally forgot that I was talking to Fai. [Hello... Bunn?]

I quickly come to my senses. "Yes... yes I am here."

We keep chatting about anything and everything before we say goodnight and hang up. Even though I just broke up with Prae less than a month ago, I feel like I'm ready to move on, a never-ending cycle for me. My relationships never last more than a year. Many of my ex-girlfriends have told me they weren't to know who I really was. They didn't understand me, saying that I was playing a role all the time, making them uncomfortable. This is why they left me.

It turns out that Dr Bunnakit is known as a Casanova although it is not my fault at all. Having a friend like Pert, a self-confident womanizer, can only worsen the rumor that based it on the fact that I'm the same type of man.

I turn to my computer to continue working. I roll up the sleeves of my sweater that I wear because of the cold. I prefer winter in the northern region because it's real winter not like winter at home in Bangkok. There, it's a perpetual summer and a rainy season. So the climate here is a good thing, I guess, because the decomposition of a body in the cold is much slower than when it is hot.

I jump at the ringing of my front door.

Who is it?

I leave my room to go to the living room near the entrance and I look outside. It was completely dark on the outside, the only source of light came from small lampposts. I squint my eyes so I can see better in the dark. I tell myself that a group of kids must have fun ringing the doorbell.

This is where I see a sheet of A4 paper rolled up and inserted into the fence in front of my house. A cool wind blows on my face when I open the door. I slowly approach the gate to pick up the paper, hoping it's just a flyer advertising of any kind.

The text written on the paper suddenly dropped the temperature.

Declare that death is suicide. Don't tell the police. Otherwise, you will be in trouble. I'm watching you.

I open the gate, run down the street, and freeze in the middle of the street, looking around to see if I can see someone. The neighborhood was totally quiet, everyone had to be in bed. No living soul could have put this sheet of paper on my fence. What the hell is this? Someone is threatening me to declare the cause of death suicide.

I am threatened to declare that Janejira committed suicide.

I quickly return home, locking the door to feel safe. I walk over to the phone on my desk. Why should I not tell the police? The person who sent me this letter must be the murderer, that's for sure. As soon as I called Captain Aem, I would go to the neighborhood security station to ask them if they had seen someone suspicious around.

The dial tone only has time to ring once before the phone is snatched from me. I am so surprised that my heart almost stopped beating.

Someone is at my house!

I waste no time and turn to run for the front door but a pair of hands wearing a pair of black gloves surround my chest from the back preventing me from going any further. I try to struggle, nudge backwards to escape, shouting for help loud enough for my neighbors to hear me. "Help me! Someone..." I take a knee on the back before I have time to finish my sentence, sending myself to the floor. I find myself face down on the floor, my left arm is twisted behind my back and my head is resting on the floor. I breathe hard and wince in pain.

"Damn Doc, you idiot." A muffled voice came from the man behind me. "I wasn't thinking of doing this tonight. But you were going to call the police, so I have no choice." I was at a disadvantage. I try to muster all my strength to free myself from his grip only to have him twist my arm even harder. I gasp in pain, trying to come to my senses. I try to turn around to see the intruder's face: he is very muscular and wears a sweater with the hood pulled down over his face covered with a huge pair of black sunglasses. A voice that was unfamiliar to me could be heard through the mask that covered his mouth. I absolutely could not identify it.

"Who are you ?" I panic. "How did you get in?"

"It doesn't matter who I am or how I entered. You would be better off asking why I entered..."

I clench my fist, thinking about a plan. I need to find a way out of this situation. "Let me go. I won't say anything, you've already taken my phone."

The man behind me lets out a sneer, the kind that leaves no hope. This sound freezes me in place. The chances of getting out of it were starting to weaken significantly. "You are a smart person, no wonder you are a forensic scientist."

"You are the one who killed Janejira aren't you? And you came to kill me too?" Without realizing it, my voice trembles as I say this. I felt that death was creeping towards me faster and faster.

The man freezes as if he was thinking about something. I take the opportunity to free my arm but he takes it back and twists it even harder than before. I let out a cry. He then sits on my back, his weight completely suffocates me. I will quickly succumb to the pain.

"I can't kill you. Not now anyway. You have to write the autopsy report for me first. You'll find a way to say that what you found about this woman was normal and it was suicide, which you misinterpreted." He said lowering his head to my ear. My body starts to shake without my being able to control it. "As soon as the job is done, I'll reward you. But if you resist, I can't guarantee what might happen to your loved ones, Doc."

"I,.. ok.. I'll do... whatever you want. Let me go," I agree and he releases me. He doesn't intend to kill me anyway, I'll go to the police as soon as possible.

"Okay deal. Now you know it's very easy to find you, Doc. No need to point out that it's easy to access the police files either. If you walk into a police station. , I'll know. So don't. If I hear that you've been there, I'll take care of your friends. Let's end this calmly." The hand in the cold black leather glove moves up to my cheek and gently caresses it. "And don't think you can trust the cops."

My heart almost stops beating listening to this last sentence. How many people have heard me say that Janejira's cause of death was not suicide, apart from my colleagues during the autopsy, Captain Aem and the people on the crime scene today?

At the same time, the face of Janejira's boyfriend comes to mind.

I don't have time to go any further when he grabs my hair from behind to hit my head on the ground. I passed out quickly as if the light was turned off.

...

I wake up with a headache that makes me want to throw up. I let out a groan of pain as I lift my hand to my scalp. I open my eyes slowly, still lying on the cold floor in my office. I slowly sit up and look around. I am alone. The man is no longer there.

I try to get up but a huge dizziness makes me lose my balance, I feel my blood rush to my head. I'm trying to search for my phone but can't find it. He must have taken it with him.

The police.

I have just been attacked. I have to call the police.

I look around for my landline phone, which should be in the corner of the desk on the right. I miss a heartbeat when I see the empty area. Only the cable was hanging. The fixed has also disappeared.

"s**t" I blurted out, trying to get out of the room. A second dizziness stretched me out on the living room sofa. I have to go to the neighbors to get their phones to call the police and get out of here.

"If I hear that you went, I'll take care of your friends." The man's voice comes back to me like a flash. "And don't think you can trust the cops."

I close my eyes trying to get it all out of my head. I gather my strength to stand up despite the headache. Sirens, a familiar sound, draws closer. I open the front door, trying to transport my body to my car. I had it locked though.

Sirens are louder and louder. I see blue and red beams approaching my house. I close my eyes as I realize it's an ambulance. The ambulance continues at full speed before stopping in front of my house. The door opens. The rescuers, carrying an emergency stretcher, quickly get out of the vehicle.

"Dr. Bunn!" Suthep, an emergency room nurse, calls me. He looked at me, shocked, seeing the state in which I am found, I was barely standing. "Doctor, you must not move, sit down. We will carry you in the ambulance. "

The only thing I think about is whoever knocked me down and whoever called the ambulance is probably the same person.