"No." Polya looked over the marks, reconfirming what he had observed. "They aren't deep enough for that. He was alive, but he wasn't fighting."

A frown creased his brow.

"At least, I don't think so. That there's this much of a mark at all suggests he could have been resisting a little. I don't have a lot of experience in this specific area."

His eyes went back to the crimson pattern.

"Multiple blood types. It was definitely a collaborative effort. I can't tell you exactly how many, but there were more than a few people involved. If the murderer did it, he wasn't acting alone."