continued Dunne in the same monotone, 'as there was considerable blood at the scene. Then she was dragged, face up, heels along the grass, to the undergrowth. There are bloody handprints under both arms.'
Dunne laid down the page he had been reading and flicked through four more, squinting until he came to the next notes of importance. He fiddled inside his jacket pocket until he found a pair of half-moon glasses and perched them on the end of his nose. He suddenly noticed they were smeared and wiped the lenses on the end of his tie.
'She must have been laid on her back,' he continued, this time without squinting, 'as there was dirt, cobwebs and a squashed insect clinging to the back of her clothes.'
'Dr Dunne,' Clarke cut in, 'the girl must have been dying by then.'
'Not dying, superintendent,' Dunne said very deliberately. 'Dead.'
'So those defence wounds you mention in your report must have happened earlier?'
'I'd say just before the first stab wound,' Dunne volunteered, glasses on his nose as he flicked back over pages. 'There was bruising around the throat and scratch marks suggesting her assailant gripped her by the throat.' Here he reached across and placed his left hand around the neck of the detective sitting on his right. The younger man smiled weakly and massaged at the skin when the grip slackened.
'She was tearing desperately at that throttling hand and trying to ward off the swinging knife at the same time. The blade caught her grip, cutting deeply.' Dunne's right hand went up in the air and came across sideways in an arc. 'The first wound penetrated lung, followed afterwards by that fatal upper chest wound.'
'But why did he stick the knife in her back?' Molloy wondered out loud. 'She was dead by then.' Dunne half smiled and began stuffing his glasses back into the inside pocket of his jacket. 'That one's for you, sergeant. I'm only here to tell you what he did, not why.'
The two men exchanged wry grins, the first time Molloy's face had lost its worried look.
Clarke interrupted again, reading from the report. 'What's the bit about the IUCD?'
Dunne leaned back in his chair and explained. 'An IUCD is a contraceptive device placed inside the womb.'
Anxious not to miss anything Clarke pressed harder. 'Any other significance?' Catching up with Dunne after he'd presented a report was notoriously difficult.
'Well, it suggests the girl was sexually active,' said Dunne. 'These devices aren't usually put inside the womb in someone so young.'
Clarke made a few notes as he listened then smiled across the table to confirm he had finished.
Commissioner Murphy coughed for attention. 'Let's take a break,' he suggested.
11
10.15 am
'Could I have a word with you?' Dr Frank Clancy stood in the doorway of heart specialist Linda Speer's office in her specially furnished top-floor suite.
Among the many petty jealousies and professional rivalries that dogged the Mercy Hospital nothing matched the anger and resentment stirred by the money and attention lavished on the 'Dream Team'. Within one month of the announcement of their appointments the top floor of the hospital had been cleared and renamed: 'HEART FOUNDATION'. New equipment for such procedures as angiograms, echo-cardiography, radio-isotope scanning et cetera had been installed, even though most being replaced were still good. A new, specialised laboratory was created immediately outside the intensive care unit for post-operative patients. On the same corridor a state-of-the-art coronary care unit was constructed with every diagnostic and resuscitative facility necessary. 'The proximity of the laboratory to these two nerve centres of cardiology,' Minister for Health Regan had announced to a glowering hospital audience on opening day, 'will allow Dr Stone Colman to analyse within minutes the biochemical and cellular changes occurring in an acute myocardial infarction.' Standing slightly behind Regan, the Boston trio listened attentively. Dan
Dunne laid down the page he had been reading and flicked through four more, squinting until he came to the next notes of importance. He fiddled inside his jacket pocket until he found a pair of half-moon glasses and perched them on the end of his nose. He suddenly noticed they were smeared and wiped the lenses on the end of his tie.
'She must have been laid on her back,' he continued, this time without squinting, 'as there was dirt, cobwebs and a squashed insect clinging to the back of her clothes.'
'Dr Dunne,' Clarke cut in, 'the girl must have been dying by then.'
'Not dying, superintendent,' Dunne said very deliberately. 'Dead.'
'So those defence wounds you mention in your report must have happened earlier?'
'I'd say just before the first stab wound,' Dunne volunteered, glasses on his nose as he flicked back over pages. 'There was bruising around the throat and scratch marks suggesting her assailant gripped her by the throat.' Here he reached across and placed his left hand around the neck of the detective sitting on his right. The younger man smiled weakly and massaged at the skin when the grip slackened.
'She was tearing desperately at that throttling hand and trying to ward off the swinging knife at the same time. The blade caught her grip, cutting deeply.' Dunne's right hand went up in the air and came across sideways in an arc. 'The first wound penetrated lung, followed afterwards by that fatal upper chest wound.'
'But why did he stick the knife in her back?' Molloy wondered out loud. 'She was dead by then.' Dunne half smiled and began stuffing his glasses back into the inside pocket of his jacket. 'That one's for you, sergeant. I'm only here to tell you what he did, not why.'
The two men exchanged wry grins, the first time Molloy's face had lost its worried look.
Clarke interrupted again, reading from the report. 'What's the bit about the IUCD?'
Dunne leaned back in his chair and explained. 'An IUCD is a contraceptive device placed inside the womb.'
Anxious not to miss anything Clarke pressed harder. 'Any other significance?' Catching up with Dunne after he'd presented a report was notoriously difficult.
'Well, it suggests the girl was sexually active,' said Dunne. 'These devices aren't usually put inside the womb in someone so young.'
Clarke made a few notes as he listened then smiled across the table to confirm he had finished.
Commissioner Murphy coughed for attention. 'Let's take a break,' he suggested.
11
10.15 am
'Could I have a word with you?' Dr Frank Clancy stood in the doorway of heart specialist Linda Speer's office in her specially furnished top-floor suite.
Among the many petty jealousies and professional rivalries that dogged the Mercy Hospital nothing matched the anger and resentment stirred by the money and attention lavished on the 'Dream Team'. Within one month of the announcement of their appointments the top floor of the hospital had been cleared and renamed: 'HEART FOUNDATION'. New equipment for such procedures as angiograms, echo-cardiography, radio-isotope scanning et cetera had been installed, even though most being replaced were still good. A new, specialised laboratory was created immediately outside the intensive care unit for post-operative patients. On the same corridor a state-of-the-art coronary care unit was constructed with every diagnostic and resuscitative facility necessary. 'The proximity of the laboratory to these two nerve centres of cardiology,' Minister for Health Regan had announced to a glowering hospital audience on opening day, 'will allow Dr Stone Colman to analyse within minutes the biochemical and cellular changes occurring in an acute myocardial infarction.' Standing slightly behind Regan, the Boston trio listened attentively. Dan
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