Ravaged, torn, and punctured-the carcass oozes from
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multiple wounds
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Avulsed and sliced, the dermis weeps pus and purge
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fluid with clear, viscous goo
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Prior to the initial incision, before my scalpel is
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baptized bloody wet
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We determine the postmortem interval using a simple
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algebraic formula for death...
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A direct body core temperature measurement,
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postmortemly taken, is the order of the day
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The corpse is lifted on its side and a slit in its
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pants is cut in the most delicate way
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Lacerations leak wasted heat and fluid, as the body
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cools in a predictable manner
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My assistant lubricates the thermo-couple probe, a
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massive 12-inch long chemical thermometer...
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...Freezing hold...
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...Corpse gone cold...
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...Cooling blood...
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...An icy flood...
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...The body a husk; its innards are spilt...
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...This ferocious anal probing causes no guilt...
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...A facet of my profession, this duty I've sworn...
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...I stab forth the thermometer as the anus is torn...
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Environmental conditions of the crime scene are
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meticulously recorded
|
And the room temperature of the dissection room is
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dubiously noted
|
The core temperature of the carcass plummets through
|
means of convection
|
Physical science triumphs over life as heat escapes
|
through radiation...
|
Moritz's formula is the rule of thumb from which I can
|
derive...
|
"98.6©ªF - rectal temperature ? 1.5"
|
This equation produces the time of death, though
|
nothing is quite this ideal
|
Whether oral, rectal, brain or liver, I shall monitor
|
the temperature with the greatest zeal...
|
This gelid method of detection has a cold-bloodedly
|
frigid appeal
|
Observe the sanguine-streaked suppuration chill, pool,
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and congeal
|
Witness my barbarous severe intubation with
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unsanitized tools
|
Truculently sodomizing corps-icles, making purple raw
|
recta drool...
|
...Freezing hold...
|
...Corpse gone cold...
|
...Cooling blood...
|
...An icy flood...
|
...Postmortem interval, the mystery at hand...
|
...Thrusting the probe past the prostate gland...
|
...The carcass is conquered by deaths cold will...
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...Not even bactericidal rot can thwart its chill...
|
|
-----------------
|
Algor Mortis... The Linear Rate Of Cadaveric Cooling
|
| The County Medical Examiners |
