Page 85 of Fifty-Fifty

‘The autopsy report.’

Harper had obtained this as part of our background. I’d read it. Accidental death. Cause of death was massive trauma to the spinal cord from the tumble on

the stairs, resulting in instantaneous death.

I didn’t press Jimmy. I simply stayed quiet and let him come out with it.

‘There was something missing from the report. It wasn’t related to the cause of death. Jane Avellino had a mark on her calf. A bite mark. Small. About the same size as a child’s.’

An image flashed into my head, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut. The image felt like a sharp blow, painful, but not physically so. I saw Sofia in the interview room at the First Precinct – blood on her lips and cheeks, a bite mark on her wrist. I shook the thought away, shivered and told myself that was something totally different – it wasn’t the same as biting someone else – and she only did that to herself because she didn’t have a razor. The scars on her arms spoke to that. Then there was the bite expert, who said the mark on Frank Avellino’s chest matched Alexandra’s dental impression.

I began to wonder whether Jane Avellino’s death was accidental.

‘Jesus, you think Sofia or Alexandra bit their mother, she fell down the stairs and broke her neck?’

A darkness drew upon Jimmy’s face.

‘No, whether she fell or she was pushed is impossible to say. The medical examiner said the bite mark came after.’

‘After she was dead?’

‘None of this helps you because Frank never found out what really happened.

He put both girls into boarding school the month after the funeral. Who could blame him? He made sure the girls saw shrinks while they were away and they

kept Frank informed of progress. One of them shrinks told him the bite could’ve been a reaction to the trauma of finding their mother dead, and maybe they were trying to wake her up. Some shit like that,’ said Jimmy, rolling his eyes.

‘You don’t think so?’

‘Frank told me Jane was a hard woman. Tough on the kids, you know? Frank was a tough guy, but he loved his girls. Jane though, I only met the once. I didn’t take to her. She was cold. Frank told me she hit the girls. Bit them, too. My old man was good with his fists, but I loved him and I never raised a hand to him.

He was my poppy. One of those girls was as tough and cold as their mother.’

‘Abuse can scar people. It ruins lives.’

‘There’s more to it than that. It’s a sickness, too. In the soul. All I’ll say is this. I don’t know no little girl who would find their mother dead on the stairs and then take a bite clean out of her corpse. You still go to church?’

I shook my head.

‘I go every Sunday. I spoke to Father Loney about it. He said Frank had a demon living in his house. One of those girls was evil.’

‘I don’t put much stock in what priests think,’ I said.

Jimmy leaned forward, and when he next spoke his voice never rose above a whisper. It was as if he was fearful of someone, or something overhearing him.

‘I done things in the past that would make you puke. What happened in Frank’s house was something else. One o’ them girls took a bite out their dead

mother. That’s not some little girl that’s sick in the head – that’s evil.’

TWENTY-SEVEN

KATE

The consultation room in the Center Street courthouse was both cold and uncomfortable. Alexandra dressed in a smart black pantsuit with a white silk blouse beneath the jacket. She shivered, and Kate couldn’t tell if it was due to the temperature or the thought of the trial due to begin in the next hour.

Bloch wore a navy blazer, blue shirt and tan chinos. This was Bloch dressing up for the jury. She looked professional, and yet casual enough not to be uncomfortable. Kate had suggested Bloch wear a suit for court appearances. She

had said nothing in return, and Kate accepted the outfit as a fair compromise.