A  judge has just ordered that the investigation into the severed child’s hand found on a building plot in Granada should be shelved. First suspicions were that it was some kind of ghoulish prank, played by medical students at Granada University, but other theories were considered.

The hand, which was discovered on the 29th of October, or in other words, Halloween, caused no littler consternation amongst the locals, as well as a headache for the forensic team belonging to the Policia Nacional. An archaeologist had been sent to look over the plot in Calle Lavadero, which is standard practice in cities like Granada, with so many historical remains lying just under the surface. It was the archaeologist who found the hand and reported it to the police.

The police were facing anything from a macabre joke to the corpse of a dismembered child – all hypothesis were on the table, so to speak. Whilst the hand was sent to the forensic laboratory, police officers combed the plot in search of ‘more body parts.’

The first report was that it was indeed the hand of a small child, but it had been kept in some kind of preservation agent, of the kind used in medical schools and hospitals. A further report confirmed that the liquid used was no longer in use in the above kinds of institutions. Furthermore, the hand had three small holes in it, of the sort made to fix an exhibit in a show case.

At this point the Policia Nacional closed the investigation as it lacked any ‘criminal’ element.

Were medical students responsible – did they have a hand in it? Or was it an old specimen belonging to a deceased medical professor whose heirs had opted for an expedient disposal, no questions asked? The fact of the matter is that Calle Lavadero has many rented flats, all lived in by medical students.

(News: Metropolitan Granada, Granada, Andalucia)