The Corpse

The blood dripped down her face in an ugly web of hate. There it had dried on her ashen complexion as a mark to signify the pain of her demise. Her lifeless eyes stared into the expanse, grey and dull. Dead. Once auburn hair was matted with blood, tatted and pressed down into her skin. Her head had fallen to the left at the point of her death, peering down the small grassy verge into the grey sea below. He could tell by the multiple stab wounds, some of them shallow and vicious, ripping her skin, that she had been toyed with for a long time before the final blow had come. Moving in for a closer look he noticed a hole in her cheek where something round and blunt had been forced, the skin left ragged. He could see her tongue lolling inside. She was dressed in a short top, ripped in the places the blade had perforated her skin, the blood seeping into the white t-shirt, stained a rusty colour in the early morning hours. The bottom half of her clothes were missing, except one torn shoe, leaving her naked and exposed. He knew, without proper examination, that she'd been raped. She was bruised and cut from harsh use. He gazed back up at her dead eyes knowing he would take this on. He wanted to find her murderers, see them suffer for the pain they'd caused this innocent girl. He gave a short, curt nod and the team arriving began their forensic collection of the corpse.

         The girl was soon identified after her bag was found several yards away, shoved into a bush. It was clotted in mud and leaves when it was pulled from between the twigs.
         Detective Donahue searched the worn leather bag himself, sifting through it's contents with a pair of latex gloves covering his hands. He found the normal things; keys, make-up, tampons, purse. No phone to be found. He searched the purse, still pristine within the bag. The ID card was the first thing he spotted as he opened the clutch.
         Emily. Emily Sanderson had been her name.
         Taking down the details on a jotter, he handed her sodden purse to another forensic and peeled the gloves from his hands, feeling the chalky powder they left behind clogging his skin. He left the scene, his intentions set on finding out as much as he could about Emily Sanderson.