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starting about three inches from the wrist and where the sleeve might have rolled up. Dark scars indicated that the injuries were a common occurrence. The leg cuts were much deeper, and seemed to have a crisscross pattern to them. Sara could guess from the scarring that the deeper cuts radiated from the knee to the thigh. The girl had done this to herself.
    "What is this?" Jeffrey asked, though he must have known.
    "Cutting," Lena provided.
    "Self-injuring," Sara corrected her, as if that made it any better. "I've seen it at the clinic before."
    "Why?" Jeffrey asked. "Why would someone do this?"
    "Stupidity, for the most part," Sara told him, feeling anger well into her stomach. How many times had she seen this girl? How many signs had Sara missed? "Sometimes they just want to know what it feels like. Usually they're just acting out, not thinking about the consequences. This, though," she stopped, staring at the deep cuts along Jenny's left thigh. "This is something else. She hid them, she didn't want people to know."
    "Why?" Jeffrey repeated. "Why would she do this?"
    "Control," Lena answered him, and Sara did not like the look she was giving the child. It was almost respectful.
    "It's a deep psychosis," Sara countered. "Usually bulimics or anorexics do it. It's a form of self-loathing." She gave Lena a purposeful look. "Usually something sets it off. Abuse or rape, for instance."
    Lena held her gaze for just a second before looking away.
    Sara continued, "There are other things that can lead to it, too. Substance abuse, mental illness, problems at school or at home."
    Sara walked over to the supply cabinet and took out a plastic speculum. After slipping on a second pair of gloves, she unwrapped the speculum and clicked it open. Lena cringed slightly at the sound, and Sara was thankful that the detective was capable of showing a little emotion.
    Sara walked down to the foot of the body and propped the feet apart. She stopped suddenly, her mind not accept-ing what her eyes saw. She dropped the speculum on the table.
    Lena asked, "What is it?"
    Sara did not answer. She had thought that after tonight nothing could shock her. She had been so wrong.
    "What is it?" Lena repeated.
    "She hasn't given birth to a child," Sara answered. "Any child."
    Jeffrey indicated the unused speculum. "How can you be sure without completely examining her?"
    Sara stared at them both, not sure how to say this. "Her vagina has been sewn shut," she finally told them. "From the rate of healing, I'd say it's been that way for at least six months."

Sunday

Chapter Four
    Lena ran her tongue along her front teeth as she stared out the car window. She could not get used to the fake feeling of the temporary partials. In three weeks, she would be fitted with four permanent replacements that would screw into her gums like tiny lightbulbs. She could not imagine how that would feel. For now, they served as a constant reminder of what had happened to her four months ago.
    She tried to block out the memory as she watched the scenery go by. Grant County was a small town, but not as small as Reece, where Lena and Sibyl, her twin sister, had grown up. Their father had been killed in the line of duty eight months before they were born and their mother had died giving birth to them. The task of raising the girls had fallen to their uncle Hank Norton, an admitted speed freak and alcoholic, who had struggled with both addictions well into the girls' childhood. One sunny afternoon, a drunk Hank had backed his car down the driveway and slammed into Sibyl. Lena had always blamed him for blinding her sister. She would never forgive Hank for his role in the accident, and his response to her hatred was a seemingly insurmountable wall of anger. They had a past, the two of them, that prevented each from reaching out to the other. Even now, with Sibyl dead and Lena just as good as, Lena could not see Hank Norton as anything but a necessary evil in her life.
    "Hot outside," Hank