Unnatural Causes | EXTENDED | ROUNDUP |

Elias stepped back from the table. The boy’s family would be told the truth now. The "natural" cause was gone, replaced by a cold, calculated intent.

As he turned off the lights and locked the morgue door, Elias felt the weight of the day. His job wasn't just to find out how people died; it was to give them back their voices for one last, honest moment. In a world full of noise, the dead were the only ones who never lied. Real-World Inspiration Unnatural Causes

The prompt "Unnatural Causes" refers to several well-known works, most notably the memoir of forensic pathologist Dr. Richard Shepherd. The following story is inspired by the themes of his life's work—uncovering the hidden truths left behind by the dead. The Last Witness Elias stepped back from the table

He spent the next six hours in a fever of methodology. He ran toxicology screens that most labs wouldn't think to order for a "heart attack" victim. He looked for rare alkaloids, synthetic derivatives that mimic natural enzymes. As he turned off the lights and locked

by P.D. James: A classic detective novel featuring Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh.

The results came back at 3:00 AM. It wasn't a heart defect. It was a concentrated dose of a rare neurotoxin found in specific deep-sea cone snails—something that causes total muscle paralysis, including the heart, within seconds. It was a "perfect" murder because it left no chemical footprint unless you knew exactly where to look.

by Dr. Richard Shepherd: A gripping memoir about his career as a leading forensic pathologist.