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[empathicfault]

"Will Graham here. Leave a message."

[Open for text/audio/action/whatever.]

Comments

Re: After the conversation with Arthur; Spam

[abrightboy]

I love that. [The bug facts.] Can they calculate how much it throws time of death estimates off by?

[He leans forward and carefully finds his mug by feel with his free hand, the other hand still holding the ice pack on his face. He curls against Will's side once he has it in his hand.]

Is it a significant amount?

Re: After the conversation with Arthur; Spam

[empathicfault]

[ There's a short pause as Will opens the book and looks through a couple pages. ]

Anywhere from 12 hours to five days. Because the clothes are eaten in the earliest stages of decomposition, and silverfish larvae with adult silverfish are indicative of the active decay stage, it can be anywhere from 4 days to 15.

[ He continues, almost smoothly transitioning into reading aloud from that point in the book. He pauses at one point to note that this type of silverfish- Ctenolepisma devriesiana- otherwise acts the same as the subspecies he's familiar with, the common paper silverfish. ]

It just seems to have evolved to 'get the jump' on the other carrion insects. I'd bet that they're attracted to something the blow flies give off, personally.

Re: After the conversation with Arthur; Spam

[abrightboy]

But they don't feed on the body or the blow flies?

Re: After the conversation with Arthur; Spam

[empathicfault]

They don't feed on the body all that much, but they do lay eggs on it. They're not expecting people to come by and remove the clothes, after all. They also--

[ He flips back a few pages. ]

They tend to be an indicator to other carrion insects that the buffet's ready, too. So things like dung beetles and moths might arrive earlier as well, which would muddy the data even further. Give the body the look of being in early active decay, even if it's still in the process of bloating.

Re: After the conversation with Arthur; Spam

[abrightboy]

Wow! That could mess up the investigation, messing with the timing of alibis… unless the victim is wearing a smart watch. Those things are the best thing to happen to murder investigations. They tell you the exact time the victim’s heart stopped beating.