A knock, and Hilary Brandl entered. Hirsch’s sergeant was slender and wiry, an early-morning-jogger type, with short, fuss-free hair. Her gaze fixed on the child and Hirsch saw her mind working: was this a Child Protection case? Would Port Pirie CIB take over? What charges might the parents face?

She shook hands with Pillai, then Hirsch. ‘Sorry I’m late. First impressions, Sandy?’

‘Severely malnourished,’ Sandali Pillai said. ‘She only weighs twenty-one kilos, which is about fourteen under the average for her age.’

A murmur now: ‘Any signs of sexual interference?’

‘No immediate signs.’

‘Cuts, bruises, old breaks, restraint marks?’

‘No.’

‘Anything else?’

‘We’ve tried to talk to her, but she’s frightened and wary. Unwilling to say what’s going on.’

Brandl looked at Hirsch. He could feel the full force of her concentration. ‘She’s been home-schooled, so presumably she’s not intellectually challenged?’

‘Not according to the online tutor whose been monitoring her.’ Looking to Pillai for confirmation, Hirsch added: ‘But if she’s been kept in isolation her social skills probably haven’t developed.’

The doctor nodded. ‘If she continues to be underfed and kept isolated and in filthy conditions, she’s not going to develop properly—physically, mentally or emotionally.’

Sergeant Brandl swung her lean face back to the child. ‘I hate this kind of thing. Okay, constable, work to do.’

It was cruel to leave the child. She wailed and was helpless on the floor when Hirsch crouched to say goodbye and stood to go. In the end, Doctor Pillai called for Ella, the nurse who’d bathed her, Hirsch’s closest substitute.

ALSO BY

ALSO BY GARRY DISHER FROM TEXT PUBLISHING

Peninsula Crimes

The Dragon Man

Kittyhawk Down

Snapshot

Chain of Evidence

Blood Moon

Whispering Death

Signal Loss

Wyatt

The Wyatt Butterfly

(contains Port Vila Blues and The Fallout)

Wyatt

The Heat

Kill Shot

Under the Cold Bright Lights

Bitter Wash Road

Peace

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Garry Disher has published fifty titles across multiple genres. His last standalone novel, Bitter Wash Road, won the 2016 German Crime Prize, a prize he has previously won twice. In 2018 he received the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award.

garrydisher.com

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