Page 66 of Silent Scream

Kim was unperturbed by his outburst. ‘So, what exactly have we got, Doc?’

‘My educated estimation is that we have the body of a non-adult, no older than fifteen years of age.’

‘Educated estimation? Is that scientific jargon for a guess?’

He shook his head. ‘No, I’d testify in a court to that conclusion. My guess is that it is the body of a female.’

Kim was puzzled. ‘But yesterday, you said ...’

‘There is no scientific rationale.’

‘Is this because of the beads?’

He shook his head. ‘Cerys brought this over last night.’

He held up a plastic bag containing a piece of cloth. She peered closer. There was a design.

‘It’s part of a sock. Wool decays much more slowly than other fabrics.’

‘But I still don’t ...’

‘Under the microscope I can just make out the remnants of a pink butterfly.’

‘That’ll do for me,’ Kim said, as she turned and left the lab.

Thirty-Four

Ididn'tlike the girl from the moment I saw her. There was something pitiable about her: pathetic. And she was ugly.

Everything on her body was a size too small. Her toes wore a tear at the tip of her shoes. Her denim skirt showed a little too much thigh. Even her torso seemed too small for the long limbs that sprung from it.

She was the last girl I expected to cause me a problem. She was so inconsequential that I barely remember her name.

She wasn't the first and she wasn't the last but there was something truly satisfying about ending her misery. She was a girl that no one was ever going to love and no one ever had.

Born to a fifteen-year-old mother on the Hollytree estate the fates had been rather unkind. After giving birth to a second child five years later the mother had fled.

Paternal rejection came six years later when her father dumped her at Crestwood with one bin bag of accrued worldly goods. He made it clear that there would be no weekend visits or hope of return.

The girl stood at the reception desk as her father gave her away; old enough to understand.

He walked away with no hug, touch or farewell but at the very last minute he turned and stared at her. Hard.

Did she, for one brief minute, hope for regret, for some kind of explanation; a justification she could understand. Did she hope for the promise of her father’s return, even if it was false?

He walked back and pulled her aside.

‘Listen, kid, the onny thing I can say to steer yer right is try 'ard with the books 'cos yo ay never gonner ger a man.’

And then he was gone.

She stole around her peers like a shadow; eager to ingratiate herself, desperate for love or anything that looked remotely like it.

Her limited knowledge of affection dictated that the attention she received from other girls elicited a pathetic gratitude and an undying loyalty that brought forth gifts of food, allowance; anything her two cronies asked for. She trailed after them like a puppy Lurcher and they let her.

It is amusing that the most inconsequential girl ever to walk the earth is now of some importance. Everyone is looking to her for answers and I am happy to have given her that gift.

She said to me one night, ‘I have a secret about Tracy.’