Without Consent by Kathryn Fox Page A

took up with some alternative-health practitioner, but that didn’t last long. Sounds as though the man thinks the world is against him at the moment.”
    “Why don’t I know this stuff?”
    “His wife died about the time you were away in England. No one talks about it any more. Besides, if I wanted the latest gossip, you’d be the last one to ask.”
    “Fair enough. I can sympathize with him, but the reports speak volumes about his lack of knowledge and dubious interpretation. Based on the objective findings, I can’t agree with any of his conclusions about cause of death.”
    As though anticipating her next thought, Elaine offered, “You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone what’s going on.”
    “I appreciate that. Apparently, Alf didn’t ever sit or pass the college exams. He dodged the training and all the exams by being in rural areas without any pathologists. He started doing autopsies and working with the police because there was no one else to do it.” She sipped the coffee. “Years later, he was awarded an honorary fellowship by the college, so no one ever questioned his qualifications.”
    “But if his findings are so controversial, why haven’t they been challenged before?”
    “That’s what I don’t understand. These cases go years back. There weren’t any complaints before, which means that lawyers and police loved him. His opinion helped convict a lot of people.”
    “Didn’t you say he finds cause of death natural in those cases?”
    “That’s what doesn’t make sense. Somewhere he’s switched allegiance. Maybe it had something to do with that alternative-health practitioner you said he was involved with?”
    Elaine crossed her legs. “A man under the influence of a siren?”
    “Hardly, but he might have been influenced by an evangelical belief in vitamin and immune deficiencies as causes for all ills.”
    Elaine stood and straightened. “Does the college think there’s a problem with him?”
    “There has been some concern from other pathologists, but no one’s made a formal complaint. That’s how he’s managed to keep practicing. No one’s game to ruin his career.”
    Elaine left the room but returned a few minutes later with a knock. “There are two women here to see you.”
    Anya took the time to close the files and move them into a drawer before she greeted Gloria and Melanie Havelock in the corridor. Melanie didn’t make eye-contact as they found seats in Anya’s office.
    “We need to speak with you,” Gloria began. “We found your address in the phonebook.”
    “I’m glad you came. How are you feeling, Melanie?”
    The younger woman stared at the table. “How am I supposed to feel? Mum gets raped, lies about it and doesn’t tell us that there were photos of us in her bag, along with our address. Then I get raped in our own house. How do you think I feel?”
    “I imagine very angry, which is absolutely normal right now.”
    Gloria fiddled with the collar of her plaid shirt. “It’s my fault, what happened to Melanie. I thought I was protecting her by not making a police statement.”
    Anya leaned forward in her chair. “You had to do what was right for you at the time. Every rapist tells the victim he knows where she or he lives, and threatens to come back if the police are called. It’s their way of trying to control you afterward as well.” She stood up, unable to wheel her chair around to Melanie. Instead, she sat on the desk near her. “Sexual assault has nothing to do with sex. It’s all about control.”
    For the first time, Melanie Havelock looked back.
    “Can we find out if whoever did this to Mum did this to me too?”
    “That’s difficult,” Anya said.
    “What about the forensic evidence? Mum said you examined her at the time.”
    Gloria looked away and closed her eyes again. This must have been so painful for her. She did not just suffer herself. She had to relive it with her child.
    “I asked them to destroy it all,” she