The body was laid in the cool basement; otherwise, in this weather, it would have taken only half a day for the corpse to become severely decomposed.
This was a gaunt body. His hands were calloused from long periods of handling sail ropes, and his exposed skin was tanned and darkened from prolonged sun exposure. Some features revealed his identity as a Pirate.
There were signs of dissection on the corpse—it had clearly been used as teaching material after death—with dense stitches maintaining the final semblance of dignity.
It was obvious that this was not Paracelsus's handiwork, for it was too rough.
"To be honest, the cause of his death isn't clear," Paracelsus began. "He was fine the day before, but by last night, he was gone. I suspect a wound infection, but I don't have more cases on hand..."
