Which of the following is a postmortem stage?

• A. Immediate
• B. Early
• C. Late
• D. Preliminary

Answer: (A)

Staging after death in forensic contexts is about time since death. The immediate postmortem stage is the initial window right after death, before the classic postmortem changes become evident, and it sets the baseline for later observations. This makes it the best choice because it explicitly names the first phase in the postmortem timeline. The other terms refer to later intervals or, in the case of preliminary, to an accompanying procedural stage rather than a time-based phase, so they don’t fit as the defined postmortem stage in this framework.