Dust to Dust

his garage. He was sure she was not into anything kinky.”
    “What did the detective say about the boyfriend?” said Diane.
    “He revised his original ‘profile’ to suggest that since she was a college student and involved in a band, the autoerot ica was probably something kids in her group were trying out. He made it sound like sniffing glue or taking drugs. When his first profile hadn’t panned out, he revised it to fit his conclusion of what happened. First she did it because she was unpopular; then she did it because she was popular.” Ross Kingsley threw up his hands as if in surrender. “Anyway, tell me what you think. I promised Mr. Dance I would look into it. In the space of nine years he has lost both his children. He is a devastated man with no other recourse. He was going to give us his life savings to open an investigation. I talked my bosses into letting me work on it pro bono.”
    Diane read the report twice and handed it to Frank when he reached for it. She took a breath and looked at the photograph. It showed a young adult woman, nude, with a rope around her neck. She was in a kneeling position on a bed. One end of the rope was tied to a bedpost and she was leaning forward into the noose. There was a towel half under the rope and half falling out. There were clothespins attached to each of her nipples.
    “Her father didn’t find her, did he?” said Diane.
    “No. How did you know?” asked Kingsley.
    “He wouldn’t have left her this way. No father would, even if it meant disturbing evidence,” said Diane.
    “She was found by a friend, who called 911,” said Kingsley.
    Diane put down the photograph and picked up the autopsy report. She read it several times, picked up the photograph again, and looked at it. She rose from her stuffed chair and went into the kitchen and came back with a magnifying glass.
    “Is this the only crime scene photograph?” asked Diane.
    “Yes,” said Kingsley. “Have you found something?”
    Diane didn’t answer; she continued examining the photograph with the magnifier. After a minute she put the picture and the magnifying glass down on the table.
    “There are two things that make me question the finding,” she said. “The first is the knot in the rope. Do you have the rope?”
    “That’s right, you do forensic knot analysis,” said Kingsley. “How could I forget that? What about the knot? Oh . . . no, we don’t have the rope.”
    “Anyone who is into this form of self-gratification would use some variation on a slipknot to hold the rope around the neck so that when pressure is released, the rope loosens. This is a granny knot—an incorrectly tied square knot. Granny knots are known for their difficulty in untying. Look at this.” Diane handed the photograph to Kingsley along with the magnifying glass. “The rope is tied tight around her neck. No way did she do this. Frankly, I’m surprised the forensics people didn’t notice it. Did any forensics person work it as a crime scene?”
    “No, just the detective assigned to the case,” said Kingsley. “I see it now. Of course. She would never have been able to get out of this. In fact, as tight as the rope was around her neck, she would have passed out before she could even arrange herself in this position. Funny, I never noticed how the rope was tied, and I studied crime scene photographs of autoerotic asphyxia. They contained elements much like this one—accessories to aid in arousal, rope around the neck, a towel to prevent ligature marks. . . .”
    “But that’s the second thing,” said Diane. “She does have ligature marks on her neck.”
    “Are you saying . . . What exactly are you saying?” asked Ross Kingsley.
    “Ligature marks are briefly mentioned in the autopsy report, but only that they are present. They are not described in any detail,” said Diane. “But look at the photograph. Look at the marks on the neck where the towel has slipped. See this ligature mark?” She pointed to a clear linear bruise on the victim’s neck and looked up at Kingsley. “It’s an inch lower on the neck than where the tightened rope is cushioned by the towel. If I could see autopsy photos, I believe they would show two ligature marks. One made perimortem, and the other made postmortem.”
    “You’re saying she was strangled; then this was staged after her death?” said Kingsley.
    “It looks that way. What I believe is the second ligature mark looks very deep and appears to extend