‘James! I’m not interrupting anything am I?’
‘No, Sam. Come and join us. I… Good God, what happened to you? Have you been wrestling with international crime lords?’
‘I came off the bike. Is that the failed Caesar?’
‘Yes, minus the fauna.’
‘So, what can you tell me?’
‘Not that much, I’m afraid. Dental records, fingerprints, DNA… not previously on record. Actually, her teeth were perfect. Facial recognition provided nothing. There are indications of previous pregnancies. A nicely reworked low transverse C-section scar just above the pubic hairline. I missed that at the scene. The uterine wall seems to have ruptured along the site of a previous incision.’
‘Does that often happen?’
‘Under normal circumstances it rarely happens. Usually, it’s only when there’s an insufficient gap between pregnancies and the uterine scar fails to heal prior to subsequent implantation. Perhaps due to an infection. There’s no knowing the circumstances under which the previous procedures were carried out. How aseptic they were. We’re checking microbiology. There’s a lot to choose from given her circumstances of late. But in this case the rupture was undoubtedly due to a twin pregnancy with the attachment of a second placenta over a previous Caesarean scar. So, we’re looking at a case of placenta accreta in a multiple pregnancy, most likely a twin pregnancy. The detachment and subsequent rupture would have caused the haemorrhaging that necessitated the emergency section.’
‘So, you think at least three pregnancies including this twin pregnancy? How old would you say she is?’
‘Difficult to be sure. Skull sutures, epiphyseal fusion, tooth eruption… I wouldn’t place her much older than eighteen. Maybe younger.’
‘God Almighty! Do you think someone’s been using this child as a baby factory?’
‘She was well-nourished. No signs of long-term maltreatment. Although there’s bruising and recent, unhealed vaginal tears, possibly due to abusive sexual activity immediately prior to the start of labour or possibly during it.’
‘Good God, now there’s something to colour my dreams for a while.’
‘We’re checking for foreign DNA. The strange thing is there are no signs of older wounds. No signs of previous abuse. The recent injuries seem inconsistent. If this girl was part of the prostitution-baby-farming network you lot suspect, it would be unlikely that they would risk the sexual health of one of their breeding stock. In addition, the fact that the outfit behind this was organised enough to be able to call upon some reasonably competent surgical back-up, would not only suggest the involvement of individuals with more than a basic knowledge of obstetrics, but it would imply that there are others like her.’
‘A review of disgraced medics hasn’t turned up anything.’
‘Perhaps you should check out a few from the ranks of the undisgraced.’
‘Yeh. So, have you been able to determine ethnicity?’
‘Blood markers suggest a Central European origin. And the tattoo ink would seem to confirm that. Quite likely manufactured in the Czech Republic.’
‘Recent? The tattoo?’
‘No, loss of symmetry and fading would suggest it was done several years ago.’
‘Right. Thanks, James. Keep me posted on that. I’ll put someone on to checking Europol’s Missing Persons data. Possible child abductions. So, what would we be talking about here? Six years ago? Probably longer if she’d been put to work before the pregnancies.’
‘At least six. As I said, there doesn’t seem to be any history of tissue damage so it would have to have been softly, softly. It’s likely this lass was well cared for. Her unfortunate fate has probably been a financial inconvenience as much as anything else.’
‘Right. Well, I’d better get back to HQ and give Short the good news…’
‘Sam, there is one other thing, before you dash off: the nail varnish. I checked it against our database. It appears to be identical to varnish found on the body of a young woman, early twenties, washed up in Plymouth last year. Thought to have fallen off a boat, possibly dumped at sea. She’d been in the water for some time. There was no identification. Central European markers. Might just be a coincidence. It’s not uncommon… the varnish, that is.’
‘Were there any signs of previous pregnancies?’
‘There was a lower section scar – I’ve requested more images – but there were also previous compound fractures of the long bones. And she was HIV-positive.’