There had been a great deal of blood the night before, but there was no way to know the cause of it in the meager light. Now, as I stared at my friend’s body and saw the full extent of the injuries, my stomach tightened.
I was not aware that I made any sound as a darkness crowded in at the edges of the room.
“Are ye all right, Miss Montgomery?” Inspector Landry inquired.
“Of course. Please continue,” I replied. I wanted to know as much as possible about what had happened.
“I have made a preliminary report,” the surgeon pointed out. “The cause of death was the knife wound as you can see.”
“What else can you tell us?” Inspector Landry inquired.
The surgeon nodded. “It appears the woman struggled when she was attacked. That would account for the bruises that you see. The attack possibly came after...” he paused, then continued, “the usual activity we see in these situations,” he added.
“There was indication of an activity of an intimate nature before the woman was attacked. And there were also traces of opium, also consistent with these situations.”
A transaction, the usual reason...for a prostitute. Opium?
“Aye,” Munro commented.
I looked up in surprise but made no comment.
Dory never used drugs of any kind. She told me more than once that it dulled the senses.
“I canna have some blighter takin’ advantage and not pay the full amount with me brain in a fog. I keep me wits about me.”
Yet I reminded myself that it had been several years since I last saw my friend. Things changed. Had they changed for her as well?
Oh, Dory, I thought. I reached out and touched her hand—now cold and lifeless.
How many times had she comforted me as a young child, and now there was no amount of comfort I could offer in return.
“Did you know the woman?” the surgeon inquired. “Is there family to be notified...?”
I shook my head and took a steadying breath.
“There is no one,” I replied. Other than myself, I thought.
“Wot else can ye tell us?” Inspector Landry inquired.
“My observations are typical of things we see on the street, Inspector. Not unlike the murders in London some years ago, those four prostitutes attacked and murdered.”
Typical, nothing unusual. Except that it was neither of those... I was certain of it.
Inspector Landry thanked the surgeon for his time.
“I will make my final report, that will include a note about the presence of opium,” the surgeon replied, then as an afterthought, “There was an item found in the woman’s clothes. It appears to be of little value, you might wish to have it since there is no family,” he added.
He went to a side counter and retrieved a small envelope. He returned and handed it to me.
I opened the envelope and stared at the object I found there—a small yellow metal charm in the shape of a heart, with the lettersA.D.G.
I do not know if I thanked the surgeon or said anything at all as I turned and left the holding room, that metal charm clenched tight in my hand.
Out on the street the air was sharp, biting as snow began to fall. I lifted my face to the cold and the sting of the flakes as I closed my eyes, a memory just as sharp:
A child, no more than five or six years, stood alone on a cobbled street, snow falling amid the tears that stung her cheeks, along with anger and defiance, as she fled the dark building that loomed up behind her in a grey,storm-filled sky...
“Miss Montgomery! Lily...!”
