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dehydration, to the point that she could no longer produce urine.’
    ‘There’s blood in the lungs as well,’ Clive added.
    ‘Could those results be caused by something like leukaemia?’ Schiller asked. The question was reasonable.
    Dr Kuah spoke again. ‘I believe we’re looking at a haemolytic anaemia. The faecal smear is overrun with gram-negative bacteria that also appear on portions of the blood film. The child had an overwhelming form of sepsis, or infection, if you like. I’ll organise serology for antibodies to E. coli strains.’
    Schiller suddenly looked pale. ‘Infection? So Emily wasn’t murdered but she still ended up stuffed in a box?’
    ‘Stomach’s full of blood,’ Clive announced. ‘That would cause vomiting, another potential source of the bathroom blood stains.’
    Anya thought about what Beatrice Quaid had said. She believed Jenny was guilty of negligent homicide by refusing to get Tom vaccinated. If Emily had developed a serious infection and hadn’t been taken for medical treatment, Jenny could be considered responsible as well.
    She turned to Schiller. ‘We won’t know for sure until we have the blood cultures back, and they may not grow anything anyway. But it looks like Emily died from Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome, or HUS for short. It’s caused by a bacteria that produces its own toxin, which is why it causes so much damage.’
    ‘Then why the hell put her body in a box?’ Schiller’s brow furrowed. ‘Unless you’re guilty, or trying to cover up something else.’
    It was possible Jenny had panicked. With two children dead, she could have been frightened of losing Mia, her only surviving child.
    Schiller said, ‘Any chance the brain-bone shifting nose treatment caused or introduced the infection? If it did, I’m going straight for that snake, Heyes.’
    ‘The bacteria is transferred via the faecal-oral route,’ Clive muttered.
    ‘The family friend I spoke to was adamant, Jenny was meticulous about kitchen hygiene and safe food storage,’ Anya said.
    ‘Then how did she get it?’ Schiller pulled out his phone. ‘Is it contagious?’
    ‘No,’ Dr Kuah said down the phone line, ‘but cases like this are rarely isolated. They usually occur as part of an outbreak. The sufferer ingests the bacterium in either uncooked, undercooked or contaminated foodstuffs.’
    ‘In lay terms,’ Clive said, ‘it’s a deadly form of food poisoning.’ He moved to examine the skull.
    ‘So if Jenny Quaid did all the cooking and even made their bread,’ Schiller reasoned, ‘chances are . . .’
    The answer hung in the air. Mia and her mother could be in desperate need of medical assistance. Not to mention that any number of other people might have come into contact with the source of the infection.
    ‘This is a notifiable infection. The public health unit has to be told,’ Clive said flatly. ‘This could be the first case of an epidemic.’
    ‘Or, it may have been confined to Jenny’s home.’ Schiller suggested. ‘Remember the rat on the garden bed?’
    Irrespective, given the attention a child death and missing family garnered, Anya knew it would be made public before long. ‘If you and Bowden don’t mind, I’d like to let the grandmother know how Emily died. Once public health know, it will be open to the media. Mrs Quaid deserves to hear it from someone other than a reporter.’
    Schiller checked his watch.
    ‘Uniforms brought her in to ID the body about an hour ago. She went home to wait by the phone for word.’
    ‘Good news,’ Clive interrupted. ‘About that intranasal business. You’ll be pleased to know, the sphenoid bone is intact.’

9
    A fter the post-mortem, Bowden called Schiller back to the Quaid home to check the scene one more time and interview anyone who might know where Jenny and Mia may have gone. They hoped to find out how close the community members were and if any of them had been ill.
    On the way to the car park, Anya dialled Beatrice Quaid’s