‘So strangled?’

‘Not necessarily. This is preliminary only.’

‘Any signs of sexual assault?’ Murphy plunged on.

‘Nothing obvious, however …’

The doctor’s flat tone caught Jake’s attention. ‘Yes?’

‘The deceased underwent extreme genital surgery. Quite some time ago, from the appearance of the scarring.’

‘What do you mean?’ Murphy recoiled slightly. ‘She was a bloke?’

Chapter Three

District Hospital

Friday, 3.21 p.m.

The doctor shook her head. ‘She appears to have been biologically female from birth. What I mean is at some point her clitoris and entire vulva were removed.’

‘Erm …’

Doctor Gill assumed an overtly patient expression. ‘Think of the clitoris as the female equivalent of the glans … the head of your penis.’

Murphy sat back and crossed his legs. ‘I know that.’

‘The vulva includes the two thin inner lips and the two fleshier outer lips around the vaginal opening.’ She waved vaguely at the lower half of Murphy’s body. ‘They correspond to the flesh that makes up your scrotum. At some point in the past, Ms O’Brien’s were all removed.’

‘Is there a medical reason for that?’ Jake asked.

‘At a stretch, it might have been performed to remove a cancerous growth. But it doesn’t look like any cancer surgery I’ve seen in the past.’

‘What makes it unusual?’ Jake said.

‘In Ms O’Brien’s case, all four labial lips have been completely removed and the sides of each individual excision stitched together to create four rows of exactly parallel scarring.’

‘So it was done by a surgeon?’ Jake asked.

‘The scarring is neat and the incisions were precise, so it has to have been carried out by someone with extensive training.’

‘And how old are the scars?’

‘Old, perhaps decades.’

‘Are you able to search hospital records to see if she was ever a patient here?’

‘I already tried looking her up. She doesn’t seem to have been registered with Medicare, at least not under that name.’

‘Is there anything else you can tell us at this stage?’

The doctor shook her head, stood up and held out her hand. ‘I’ll call you as soon as I have anything.’

Jake and Murphy also rose. ‘We’ll let you get back to it. Please keep us in the loop?’

‘Of course.’

*

‘You’re on till eight tonight?’ Jake asked his offsider as they emerged from the goat’s track of a road through the mountains into Dunton’s valley.

‘Yeah.’

Jake ignored a sickening thump as Murphy drove over the carcass of a possum.

‘Sorry mate, couldn't avoid that one.’

‘If I go to the campground to take statements from the Taylors, do you have time to look up a few things?’ Jake asked.

‘I can try. Whaddya need?’

‘You said one of the girls from the home was adopted in to your family?’

‘Yep. Charlie.’

‘Full name?’

‘Charlotte Murphy.’

‘She lives here?’

‘Mm-hmm. She’s a good kid. Still lives at home and works at the supermarket in town. Want me to arrange a time to go round and see her?’