A thought came to me as I was settling down to some spiffy mystery genre literature, that it would be REALLY neat if there were more than purely social ways to investigate a murder. In particular, I'd love to see a system implemented which allows someone with sufficient ranks in a skill to read into the circumstances of someone's death, by examining their bodies.
For instance:
Joe Blogs murders Commander Simms in his bedroom, with a candlestick. His spawned corpse stores information about Joe's wielded weapon (a candlestick), and the person who killed him (Joe Blogs), including his height and AB (i.e. skill with a blade). The time that the body spawns might also be useful.
Sergeant Sunellar, with his nifty ranks in the spot skill, goes up to the body and activates "/c examinebody".
Let's say that Sergeant Sunellar actually has a really crappy spot skill, and makes a horrible roll. He'd determine:
"You can't make heads or tails of the marks on this body."
Moving up, we may find that Sergeant Sunellar has invested a few ranks in the Spot skill, and manages to conclude:
"The killing blow appears to have been made by some kind of blunt weapon."
Moving up again:
"The killing blow appears to have been made by some kind of blunt weapon. Given the angle and position of the marks on the body, you would conclude that the person who committed the deed was about the height of a human."
And again:
"The killing blow appears to have been made by a candlestick. Given the angle and position of the marks on the body, you would conclude that the person who committed the deed was about the height of a human. Whoever did this did not appear to have much skill with his weapon, as evidence suggests that many of the blows were poorly directed."
If Sergeant Sunellar has ranks in Heal:
"This body doesn't even have signs of Pallor Mortis yet. The body is clearly fresh - dead for fewer than two hours at the most."
(or)
"The freshness of the body, coupled with the lack of Rigor mortis supposes that this body has been dead for fewer than 4 hours."
(or)
"The onset of partial Rigor mortis suggests that the body has been dead for 3-12 hours."
(or)
"The onset of full Rigor mortis suggests that the body has been dead between 12 and 72 hours"
(or)
"The stench of this body, and the lack of Rigor mortis supposes that it is probably more than 72 hours old."
(or, REALLY high heal skill, and the presence of a means of taking the subject's rectal temperature in the examiner's inventory:)
"The body's Algor mortis supposes that it is roughly n hours dead."
Worth pursuing?