Julia pulled on a vulcanized rubber glove and slit the sack with a scalpel, exposing the dead girl’s torso. Julia cut away her emerald wrap and held it up. Moths stitched in gold caught the light and sparkled against the bright green.
“A glittering shroud,” Julia said. “There’s blood spatter across the right shoulder.”
The doctor moved the girl’s head and found the probable cause of death. A blow had caved in her right temple. Julia cut away the girl’s silk chemise.
Tennant fingered the rough sacking. “Impossible to trace the bag, I’m afraid. Seamen use them to stow their belongings. They’re two a penny down in the docklands.”
“They tossed her far from the quays of Limehouse and Poplar,” O’Malley said.
“Her undergarment is silk,” Julia said. “An expensive chemise for a shopgirl.”
Julia found no other fatal wounds, but dark bruises stained the victim’s right shoulder and upper arm.
Something gleamed in the bright light of the hanging oil lamp. Julia reached under the girl’s neck, pulled out a snapped silver chain, and held it to the light. “Tangled in her hair,” she said.
The sergeant moved deftly for a big man. He circled the table, retrieved the sack, and folded it back inch by inch until he found a shiny object caught in the seam. Julia slit the canvas, releasing a silver oval.
She held it up. “I see a field of stars surrounding the letter M and a cross.”
“’Tis what’s called a miraculous medal,” O’Malley said. “In honor of the Virgin Mary. She’ll be on the other side of it.”
Julia turned it over. “Yes.”
The sergeant crossed himself. “She could be Frances Riley, called Franny, one of the missing shopgirls. We sent for the landlady who reported her missing.
“She should be here soon.” Tennant had cleared his throat, but his words still came out ragged. The light from the cramped room’s glowing lamp shrank, and his head spun.
“Perhaps the landlady has arrived,” Julia said. “Why don’t you and the sergeant let me finish up, and I’ll prepare the body for identification.”
* * *
Julia had noted and ignored the inspector’s pallor; she’d seen it before. Despite the cold of the room, a layer of sweat had covered his forehead, and he breathed raggedly.What is it? she wondered when the door closed behind him.Not the body.He’d seen many in his line of work. Julia returned her attention to the corpse and completed the autopsy.
An hour later, a teary Mrs. Murphy arrived to identify Franny Riley. When Julia pulled the sheet down to the shoulders, Mrs. Murphy made a convulsive cry and pulled back. For Julia, the worst moment of any postmortem was that instant of recognition. Hope died in the eyes not slowly but swiftly, like shutters clapped close. Then came the wait. Julia stood by patiently and helplessly for Mrs. Murphy’s goodbyes. She leaned over the body and caressed the girl’s cheek, sobbing quietly.
After Mrs. Murphy left, Julia said, “Those weren’t the tears of a landlady.”
O’Malley nodded. “She left the girl’s room as it was, praying she’d return. ’Tis lucky for us if there’s something to find. Someone else would have crated her things and rented the room of a girl who’d vanished.”
Julia drew a sheet over the girl’s head and turned down the oil lamp’s burner. She bowed her head as Paddy O’Malley crossed himself and whispered a Hail Mary before they left.
In the corridor, Tennant asked, “Can you determine the cause of death?”
“A probable beating. A right-handed assailant inflicted the facial injuries on the left side. But the fatal wound crushed the bones of herrighttemple.”
“Two attackers,” Tennant said.
“Perhaps. I found fresh bruising on her upper right arm and shoulder. She may have fallen to the ground after being struck, hitting her head on something solid.”
The inspector asked, “Did you find other injuries?”
“Yes.” Julia took a breath. “There were fading bruises on her thighs and extensive vaginal tearing.”
“Evidence of rape,” Tennant said.
Julia nodded and tried to steady her voice. “The poor girlhad been brutally used.” She looked up and saw Tennant’s eyes on her.
“Fading marks,” he said. “How long before they disappear?”
