He made a midline incision into the peritoneal cavity and used the bread knife to sever the organs of the neck and removed the victim’s tongue and throat. Then he carefully lifted out the slippery mass of the lungs, bronchi and aorta, all of which were left connected. Oliver took great care while cutting free from the mesenterium the seven metres of upper and lower intestines and removing them from the body. He had learned from experience that a rupture could result in content escape, the stench of which was somewhere between that of vomit and excrement combined and ten times as potent. He then excised and removed the liver, pancreas, spleen and stomach from the upper abdomen, again keeping them connected. No, he thought, it doesn’t make sense. If the police suspected him then he would have been immediately suspended from work.

While the assistant carried out weighing duties, Oliver removed another connected set of organs, this time the kidneys, urinary bladder and abdominal aorta. The subject’s body cavity was now empty and the grey-white of his spine was exposed. Oliver turned his attention to the head, removing the brain and inspecting the inner aspect of the skull. Once the exenteration was finished, Oliver cut sections for histology and later microscopic inspection, dropping the samples into formaldehyde. There was no need for the whole brain to be fixed in formaldehyde and sliced in two weeks’ time for detailed study: there were no significant cranial traumas, so he took slices from the brain to be sent for toxicology along with the body fluids. It took Oliver another hour to lift the skin from around the slice wounds for detailed inspection.

After the autopsy was completed, Oliver washed up and drove home to his flat. The city slid by, glistening-wet dark in the night. He smiled to himself. The butterfly sensation had gone. A voice deep inside seemed to reassure him: no, he said to himself, they won’t catch you. You’re too clever for them. And soon it will be Karneval.

5.