I was hoping that a successful Investigate would allow me to skip a lot of questions that don't lead anywhere, in favor of it being assumed that Taryn finds the information that does, but here are some sample questions:
Do we know approximate patterns and sizes of the wounds? We can learn a lot about claw and tooth shape from those, not to mention the style of hunting can tell us what sort of animals it might be mimicking.
Does it look like any hindclaws were involved? That produces very distinctive claw marks and points towards entirely different families of animal.
Were there any defensive wounds? Whether or not he put up a fight can tell us a lot of things.
How much damage did his body sustain post-mortem?
For how long? This again could tell us more about what exactly the creature is feeding on.
Were bones broken?
How cleanly?
Was it always near the presence of a bite or claw wound? This could tell us whether or not the creature has prehensile appendages, and the approximate strength of these different things.
Is there any skin or fur anywhere on his body or clothing?
Under his fingernails? That could tell us a lot, but honestly fur is something that any sort of hairy creature would be likely to leave behind, especially if it attacked in a a fury.
Were there any claws or teeth left behind? That's not uncommon depending on the creature.
The computer is locked - is there a notepad or recorder nearby to summarize the coroner's notes? For example on any DNA that might have been recovered from near the bites.
Have any casts or molds been made of the animal's teeth?
Is there anything odd about how the wounds behaved? For example, many bloodsucking beasties have an agent in their saliva that prevents clotting, and some things can infect people via killing them in ways that are detectable.
Did the wounds change in size in odd ways? A shapeshifter without a defined form might not have the same sized claws from one blow to the next.
Are there internal wounds the autopsy can't account for? Spirit creatures or summoned beasties could be partially ethereal and produce strange wound patterns.
Is there any strange patterning that might indicate it didn't act alone?
Or that it has an unusual number of limbs/heads?
Oh yeah - any odd smells from the body in a mystical sense?
Or his effects?
Has Taryn ever seen a body that's been eaten like this?
If I know what kind of creature it is, I'm happy to explain exactly what it was that let Taryn figure that out, but otherwise it feels a lot like playing 20 questions.
