The Autopsy: the daily pathologist

How to play The Autopsy

You're the pathologist on duty. Every day a different body arrives and the court wants your report with three answers: the cause of death, whether it was homicide, suicide or accident, and the approximate time.

1. Walk the room and gather the instruments: magnifier, scalpel, syringe, tweezers, thermometer and UV light.
2. At the table, examine the body face up and face down. UV light reveals marks invisible to the naked eye.
3. Take the blood, stomach and fingernail samples to the microscope.
4. Sign the report at the desk. The cause is worth 40 points, the manner 30 and the time 30.

How time of death is worked out (in the game)

The game uses a simplified version of real forensic rules. A living body is at about 37 °C and, after death, cools at a rough rate: one degree per hour indoors at room temperature and one and a half degrees per hour outdoors in the cold.

The sum: hours since death = (37 − body temperature) ÷ degrees per hour. For example, at 31 °C indoors: (37 − 31) ÷ 1 = 6 hours; if it's now 08:00, death was around 02:00.

To confirm it, check the stiffness (it starts in the jaw and reaches the whole body around 7 hours), the lividity (marks that stop fading when pressed around 9 hours) and the stomach contents compared with the time of the last meal.

Cause and manner of death

• Defence wounds on the hands and forearms point to homicide.
• Hesitation cuts next to a wrist wound point to suicide.
• A shot with soot and gunpowder on the victim's hand is typical of suicide; without soot or gunpowder, it isn't.
• Foam at the mouth and water in the lungs mean drowning; without them, the body was already dead when it went into the water.
• Some cases have a trap: scenes staged to fool the pathologist.

Frequently asked questions