The victim had likely twirled for much of the night, the detective imagined, and now had unfortunately come to rest facing the house. Unfortunate because, as the detective walked across the back lawn, the first thing he saw was the man’s naked buttocks. When he reached the body he noticed welt marks covering the man’s right butt cheek and upper thigh. The contusions flared a faint lilac against the livor mortis blue of the dead man’s skin.

The detective reached into his breast pocket and removed a pair of latex gloves that he slipped onto his hands. Rigor mortis had bloated the man’s body to the point of explosion. His limbs looked like they were stuffed with dough. A bundle of rope bound the victim’s hands behind his back, preventing his swollen and stiffened arms from extending out from his torso. Cut this rope, the detective imagined, and this guy would unfold like a scarecrow.

He gestured for the crime scene photographer, who waited at the periphery of the lawn.

“Go ahead.”

“Yes, sir,” the photographer said.

The crime scene unit had already been through the property, taking photos and video to log everything at the crime scene as the before evidence. This second time through would be after the detective had his initial look. The photographer raised his camera and peered through the viewfinder.

“So what’s the initial thought here?” the photographer asked as the camera’s shutter clicked redundantly as he snapped a series of photos. “Someone tied this guy up and threw him over the balcony?”

The detective looked up to the second story. “Maybe. Or he tied himself up and jumped.”

The photographer stopped shooting and slowly took his face away from the camera.

“Happens more than you’d think,” the detective said. “That way, if they have second thoughts, they can’t save themselves.” The detective pointed at the dead man’s face. “Get some clicks of that gag in his mouth.”

The photographer squinted as he walked around to the front of the body and looked at the dead man’s mouth. “Is that a ball gag? Like, S and M stuff?”

“It would certainly go hand in hand with the whip marks on his ass. I’m heading upstairs to see what’s holding this guy in place.”

* * *