“Crude language, Detective. But, yes. Just prior to death, someone used oral stimulation to bring Mr. Young to the edge of climax. The corpus cavernosum was swollen, but the vas deferens was free of sperm and the seminal vesicle had not released its collection of semen.”

“Doc, just get to the point,” Walt said, sliding the photo back across the desk.

“My examination suggests that someone performed oral sex on Mr. Young, bringing him to the edge of climax, but before he ejaculated the rope around his neck caused him to stop breathing.”

“Christ. You got all that from an autopsy?”

“Each body tells a story, Detective.”

The Wizard had been busy, Walt thought as he ran a hand through his hair and sat back in his chair.

“From what you see,” Walt asked, “he was a willing participant in whatever the hell went on?”

“Perhaps right up until the end. There were heavy amounts of the victim’s own skin cells under his fingernails, suggesting that he clawed at the rope around his neck before he died. I noted scratch marks on the neck above the ligature wounds.”

“So he panicked at the end and tried to take the pressure off his neck, but was too late.”

“Correct.”

“And no chance this was a suicide, as some defense attorney will surely claim?”

“Definitely not.”

Dr. Lockard pulled another photo from the file and continued.

“The rope used to strangle Mr. Young was jute rope, which we commonly see in S and M bondage. High friction, low stretch.” Dr. Lockard pushed the photo across the desk. “The same rope was used to bind his hands and wrists. Two important points here. Let’s talk about the knots that bound the victim’s hands first. As you know, some suicide victims secure their own hands behind their backs to prevent saving themselves if they have second thoughts.”

Walt nodded. “The voice of insanity safeguarding against the voice of reason.”

“In this case, it’s clear that someone else bound Mr. Young’s hands.”

Dr. Lockard pulled two more photos from the file. The first was of Cameron Young still hanging from the balcony, a close-up of his bound hands held together with rope stretched tight by rigor mortis. The second photo, taken at the morgue after rigor had softened, was of the knot.