Page 5 - Deutschisch
P. 5

peacefulness of the female victim, the boy had
taken a severe battering.

   "He took a pasting," said Thiel, unnecessarily.
   "First impressions?" He knew better than to ask
Lorenz for the cause of death.
   Without looking up Lorenz said: "I thought we
were about to have a third body at the door of the
flat." For a moment Hofmann didn't know what he
was talking about. Then he realised he was
referring to his coughing fit. Hofmann gave a huff.
"Rigor hasn't begun, so we're talking of a tee-oh-
dee of two maximum three hours ago." This time
of death margin concurred with the initial call to
the police. "The girl's neck is broken. She died
instantly. You can see the bruising to her jaw. It's
ante mortem and probably knocked her out. The
lad is another story altogether." His head glistened
with blood, his mouth and lips were split, the jaw
looked smashed. "He took a pummelling. The back
of his head is cracked open too. That could be a
result of trying to lift himself off the floor and
being bashed down again. Or the person straddled
him and lifted and banged his head a number of
times and then laid into him. I can't see the marks
of any weapon. But you can see from his neck that

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