“Of Course The Corpse Murdered Him.”

Elmer sat in his armchair lost in deep thought. Close to him the fire crackled and kept him warm. Outside the tightly shut window, cold winds blew snowflakes in turbulent swirls.

Elmer absently picked up his glass of warm brandy and gulped some, barely tasting it. As its vapors streamed through him, his eyes narrowed. His mind had opened up to something that seemed to have escaped him until now. He drew his head forward and murmured to himself, “Of course the corpse murdered him.”

As the words escaped him, a sudden knocking on the door drowned them.

With little opportunity to reel in his thoughts, Elmer sighed and walked away to open the door.

“They are planning to shut the case files”, a shivering voice said with a sense of urgency. As the speaker peeked desperately though the half opened door, he felt the warmth of the house touch his freezing face.

Quivering slightly, Elmer looked at a young man dressed in a police uniform. Without saying anything, he calmly pulled his coat from the hook near the door and walked out.

Bewildered by Elmer’s indifference, the young cop reiterated, “Elmer…did you not hear me? They are planning to shut the case. This could mean life imprisonment for Arthur…”

Elmer straightened his coat and smiled briefly. Moving forward with a sense of poised urgency he said, “My friend, Jerome…You mightn’t worry. I shall make sure Arthur is not punished.”

Still fighting against the harsh winds Jerome put on his flashlight and struggled to keep pace with Elmer.

Talking through the noisy winds, Jerome sought to understand Elmer’s mind, “And how exactly are you going to save our friend? Everyone knows that the forensic specialist was killed by a bullet fired from Arthur’s gun. There is no witness to testify his innocence because as you know, there was no one else in the laboratory apart form the two of them.”

Elmer halted for split seconds as if he were appalled by the witlessness of his partner. He then continued walking and spoke, “They were three of them in the laboratory when Arthur’s gun was fired…Just because the gun belongs to Arthur we cannot conclude that he fired it.”

Trying to keep the flashlight steady, Jerome smirked, “What are you talking about? Were you the third person to watch it all happen?”

Ignoring the leer, Elmer continued, “Have you had a chance to go through the finger print report my dear Jerome?”

“Yes. Of course. Thoroughly. And I know that the only fingerprint on the gun was that of Arthur himself”, said Jerome confidently.

“Then you must look again…there was another set of fingerprints on the gun and they belonged to the corpse”, said Elmer calmly.

“Oh you must be out of your mind. How can we take into account the corpse? And even if I agreed with you in your wildest imagination, there is no way anyone else will play along with your ridiculous point.” Jerome now seemed irked, for he knew that there was the highest possibility that Elmer had figured it all out, once again making Jerome feel like a fool.

“Then don’t agree with me. Lets go through it once more so that you can understand for yourself”, said Elmer.

Jerome cleared his throat and listened attentively as Elmer spoke.

“On the eve of the 10th of December, Mr. William was said to have shot himself to his own death…Correct?”

Jerome nodded.

Elmer continued, “When Mr. William did not answer the door, his brother sought help from the local cops including Arthur…” Jerome murmured ‘yes’ and waited for Elmer to go on.

“Now…everyone knew that the case was clearly that of a suicide. There was motive and there was reason…whatever that shall be…”

Intrigued, Jerome walked quickly to keep up with Elmer, who was now drowning in his own story, “But when Arthur was not ready to let go of his hunch that it might have been murder, he decided to stay back in the laboratory with the forensic specialist until all his doubts were put to rest. Progressively through the night, the two of them began to get drawn into the details of what might have happened. At one point they decided to recreate the entire scenario. So they took Arthur’s gun and placed it in the hand of the corpse. They had to use Arthur’s gun quite obviously because Mr. William’s gun was evidence and could not be tampered with…Then according to Arthur, nearing dawn he stepped out to use the bathroom when the forensic specialist was shot…At this point we have two choices; one is that we do not believe Arthur and deem him the murderer- this is valid because the bullet was fired from his gun and his finger prints were present on the gun. And the second is that we believe that he did not fire the gun but then there is no evidence to prove that any other living person could have entered the laboratory, shot the victim and disappeared in that time. There is no evidence to prove that anyone could have been hiding in the room all night. Infact the infrastructure of the laboratory makes it highly impossible for anyone to be hiding there. So that brings us to the only other possible scenario, which has a bleak chance of survival here. That is, that the corpse fired the gun. There is the fingerprint to support my theory…”

All of a sudden Jerome stopped walking. He seemed annoyed. Noticing that there was no light to show him the path, Elmer halted. He then said signaling Jerome to walk ahead, “I can explain what happened.”

Shaking his head in disbelief Jerome walked ahead and said, “Save it for the team. We are almost there.”

Elmer smiled and walked, saving his explanation for ears that would listen.

Entering the warmly lit police station, Elmer greeted everyone politely. Jerome gave him a concerned look and then joined the rest of the team that was waiting for Elmer to sign off and shut the case, pronouncing their fellow worker as a murderer. But Elmer was not ready to give up yet.

Elmer studied the helpless faces of his colleagues and then said, “Arthur has not murdered the forensic specialist. The corpse has…”

A collective groan arose and settled within a span of seconds. Then someone said, “How can a dead person kill someone and why?”

Elmer smiled and asked, “Agreed for a minute. But then why would Arthur kill the man?”

Jerome answered, “Maybe they argued and Arthur lost his cool and fired…”

Elmer nodded and said, “Maybe…but does Arthur have any records of irrational actions or irresponsible reactions?”

Everyone shook their heads as if to say ‘No’.

Elmer continued, “Was the gunshot wound on the forensic specialist studied thoroughly? And what height was it fired from?”

One of the cops said, “It was fired at the man’s hip. Roughly from three feet above the ground. The angle of piercing was horizontal.”

Elmer picked up a pen that was lying on the desk and held it like a pistol. He then said, “Arthur is roughly my height. If I were to hold my gun near my hip and fire, there would be a downward tilt to the trajectory of the bullet. Also, from the position of the specialist’s body, the spot form where the shot was fired would have to be the stretcher where the corpse was lying. If like you are all suggesting, there was an argument and the gun was fired in the heat of the moment, why would Arthur take the precaution of firing inconspicuously. And why would he put the gun back into the corpse’s hand?”

There was silence in the room. Everyone was lost in contemplation when all of a sudden a loud snapping sound came from outside the window, much like a gunshot. After a moment of inactivity, one of the men hastily opened the window and peered outside to get a clearer view. The rest of his colleagues joined him.

Elmer did not move from his place and waited for an account. In no time the frown of confusion subsided from the faces of the cops and one of them said shutting the window, “It was just one of those exploding trees.”

Elmer smirked. Unsettled by his reaction, Jerome asked, “What is it Elmer?”

Elmer took his time and then said, “It has happened at an opportune time. It will now be easier for me to explain the murder…”

Everyone looked at him puzzled.

Elmer continued, “During winter, especially a harsh one like this the tree bark contracts and bursts. This contraction happens in the muscles of human corpses too. When Arthur placed the gun the corpse’s hand, the finger was curled around the trigger. The discussions and study spanned over a few hours. Nearing dawn by the time Arthur stepped out, the corpse had undergone the phenomenon called ‘rigor mortis’, wherein the muscles stiffen and contract. In this case the finger contracted enough to pull the trigger and ‘bang’…”

A stunned silence prevailed in the room before it was broken by the sound of cheers.

As the celebrations began, Elmer took a composed exit to meet his good friend Arthur.