DECEDENT
Decomposed human adult found at German Historical Museum 18-7-1998
CRANIAL
The skull is complete and that of an adult. Bone quality is good. No antemortem healed or healing fractures are present. No congenital abnormalities or anomalies are present.
POSTCRANIAL
The skeleton is complete and that of an adult. Bone quality is good. Moderate remodeling is present in the right and left acromioclavicular and in the left tibiofemoral joint. No antemortem healed or healing fractures are present. No congenital abnormalities or anomalies are present.
A total of twenty-five (25) fractures and perforations are present in the following locations:
2-right humerus
3-right radius
2-right ulnas
2-left radius
1-right clavicle
1-left clavicle
1-sternum
5-ribs
6-vertebrae (4 thoracic, 2 lumbar)
1-right innominate
1-right femur
DENTAL
Thirty-two (32) permanent teeth are present at the time of death. All maxillary and mandibular roots are fully formed. Only fragmentary crowns remain, rendering observation impossible. (See odontology report.)
SUMMARY
The decedent is an adult male whose bones exhibit no congenital anomalies or deformities, no evidence of disease, and no healed fractures or surgical modifications. Perimortem blunt and sharp force trauma has caused extensive damage to the dentition, skull, torso, and long bones of the lower and upper extremities.
Hanne L. Windman, M.D.I 20 July 1998
Hanne Windman, MD 20 July 1998
III. THE FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY REPORT
FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY:
POSTMORTEM ORIENTATION AND RECONSTITUTION
AUTOPSY: 20-07-1998
DECEDENT: THOMAS, CHRISTOPHER (PRESUMED),
DOB 1952-09-19
ODONTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: 20-07-1998
ILM: 2000-43271-CO01
MORGUE: 32885
POLICE INCIDENT REPORT: BPD 08443
ME: DR. BRUNO MUNTZ
At the request of Dr. Muntz, I examined, at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Berlin, radiographs of the jaws and teeth of human remains found in the German Historical Museum in an apparatus called an iron maiden. The body was identified as ILM 2000-43271-CO01. See appendix 2.
• The victim had at least 32 permanent teeth present in the jaws at death;
• The victim had 32 teeth present when postmortem radiographs were taken;
• All crowns had been destroyed by blunt force trauma, leaving only roots embedded in the alveoli.
• Second lower left molar broken off and discovered in victim’s shirt pocket (sent to U.S. lab for further testing)
INDIVIDUATING FACTORS
Age is estimated at 35 to 50 years based on the following observations: full formation of the wisdom tooth roots, very large pulp chambers, minimal periodontal resorption.
CONCLUSIONS
The remains designated 2000-43271-CO01 are those of an adult aged 35 to 50 years at the time of death. No crowns remain for observation. All crowns appear to have been destroyed by blunt force trauma. No antemortem dental records exist for comparison.
Hermine Kettgen, DDS 20 July 1998
Hermine Kettgen, DDS.
Forensic Odontologist
IV. THE FINGERPRINT COMPARISON REPORT
Report: 01-32432
Latent Examiner: Liesl Schwede #2766
Case Title: BNM
Comparison Date: July 20, 1998
Victim: Unknown
Location: German Historical Museum
INKED IMPRESSIONS
Print(s) of: Unknown
Print(s) taken by: Bruno Muntz, MD
Date print(s) taken: July 20, 1998
Total number of print(s): 1
Location of print(s): left fifth digit, hand
Condition of print(s): partial
Comparison requested by: Bruno Muntz, MD, Institute of Legal Medicine, Berlin
Dossier supplied by: San Francisco PD (USA), via Bruno Muntz, MD
RESULTS OF EXAMINATION
Lift 1: Positive identification to left fifth finger of THOMAS, CHRISTOPHER, DOB 09/19/52
OTHER SUBJECTS COMPARED WHO WERE
NOT IDENTIFIED
None
Acknowledgments
It is impossible to thank everyone who has been a part of this enormous project. The first person I have to thank is my sister Lamia. I can’t think of a better person to collaborate with, and were it not for her attention to detail, her foresight, and vision, I doubt this book would be as gripping a read as it is today.
When I first embarked on this project, I approached some of the writers I knew well and asked them if they wanted to participate. Jonathan Santlofer, John Lescroart, and Tess Gerritsen agreed without asking how much they were getting paid or even receiving many details about the project. Participation from other writers snowballed from there.
As originally conceived, this book would have been an anthology had it not been for my late friend Les Pockell. An experienced hand in publishing and a vice president at Grand Central Publishing, Les possessed a mind that was as sharp as Sherlock Holmes. We became good friends and whenever I visited New York we had lunch or drinks with another friend, Susan Richman. One day, over drinks, Les suddenly paused when he heard about my plans to publish an anthology and donate the money to cancer charities. “If you want sales, Andrew, turn this into a novel in chapters,” he said. “I read one of those when I was a kid and it had a huge impact on me.” Then he picked up his credit card from the table and with raincoat in hand said good-bye. Susan Richman turned to me and said, “What a genius.” Sadly, cancer took the life of Les last summer; during rocky times with this project I’ve often felt Les’s invisible hand guiding me along.
The wonderful thing about an endeavor of this sort is that I’ve become very good friends with several of the contributors and my friendship has been strengthened with writers whom I had previously known only casually. A special thanks goes to Jeffery Deaver, that man for all seasons. He played a huge part in finding loose ends and tying them all together with a sleight of hand that David Blaine would admire. Jonathan Santlofer, one of the smartest minds around, also played a critical role in strengthening the book and writing the watcher scenes-though I have to admit that he and I did want to kill each other a few times. Thankfully our homicidal thoughts never interfered with our friendship. John Lescroart provided a lot of support and helped us find even more writers for this project and was always there to chew on any ideas that we had. And of course the great David Baldacci who wrote that great introduction; David is one of the true gentleman in the literary world and it was a pleasure to work with him. Alexander McCall Smith helped with exploring the depths of Christopher Thomas’s manipulative character.
I would also like to thank my brother Farris for his support and wisdom and enduring presence in the process of bouncing ideas; Lisa Gallagher, one of the sweetest and most supportive people I know; Nancy Yost, who from the start was a guiding light; Joe Finder, who became our oracle; Doug McEvoy, who no matter how busy he was, always found time to give me his sage advice; and the Touchstone team of Stacy Creamer, David Falk, and Michelle Howry, whose faith in this project never wavered.