I'm not even sure if this will fly on /adv/, but the threads I posted in /b/ and /r9k/ got no responses so maybe I'll have some luck here.
I'm writing an outline for a screenplay at the moment, and I need to know if scalding burns from boiling water can be identified on a charred corpse. In my script I've got an altercation between a mother and her daughter taking place in a kitchen, with the daughter removing the lid from a recently boiled kettle and throwing it across her mother's face, scalding her own arms/hands in the process. After that, the mother lashes around for a bit blindly before she's eventually stabbed a few times. I'm planning to have the girl remove the corpse from their home with the help of another person at night by taking the mother's car out into the middle of nowhere and torching it, but I want to have the girl tripped up later on during a police investigation into the death when it's revealed that the corpse showed earlier signs of scalding, which she herself displays. Is that even possible once a body's been burnt to a crisp?
tl;dr - writing script, person is scalded with hot water before being stabbed, their body is taken out to secluded area and torched, will the earlier scalding be identifiable at all even after severe charring of body?
>>17289227
The short answer is no, there would not be any signs of scalding if the face has been completely charred.
However, you can fall back on the stab wounds. Write it as such that the stab wounds pierced bone in a couple of places. Use a serrated blade. Investigators would go on a hunt for a matching blade that they could test for DNA.
>>17289227
nope. if its already charred they wouldnt be able to say 'yes, but that had slight boiling before it was further burnt'.
no way to do that. its the reason people light bodies on fire. if you want to have her trip up, make her wear extremely specific shoes, with a similar footprint found. just have them ask 'whats your shoe size' even and make her get nervous over that. maybe something she was wearing (like her favorite necklace or ring) fell onto her mothers body, and while its damaged its still there and she has to play it off like 'oh my mother was taking it to get cleaned that day'...
>>17289227
The odds of that are extremely slim, when you say charred are basically saying the dermis has been removed?
That'd be the only part where it would be detectable
I think the more likely trail of evidence you should follow is a skull fracture from the lid
>>17289245
I'd thought to follow up on the stab-wounds as a plan b, but I hadn't thought much beyond that. Thanks a bunch, this gives me a new angle to research.
>>17289246
Well the catch of this story is it's a small-town admin guy who works at a police station helping her cover up her mother's murder. The admin would probably think to remove and burn all of their clothing.
>>17289248
I can't say for sure if the dermis would be removed, but I'd think so after laying in a burning car. The only problem with the skull fracture thing is she wouldn't be throwing the whole kettle at her, just lashing the contents against the mother's face.
I suppose this thread can die now, or it can become a general writing advice thread. Either or, I'm fine with deleting it. You've all helped me a lot.
>>17289265
that makes it tough but you got to let up in some way. you cant burn someones skin off and still tell they have water burns.
