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through the right parietal region and partially severed the frontal lobes,’ Dr Fortis said. ‘Hence the flattened affect.’
    ‘Will that be permanent?’ Jerry said.
    ‘I’m no expert, but people do make amazing recoveries from these sorts of things. This is really one for the medical journals, though: self-inflicted lobotomy.’
    ‘Maybe not self-inflicted,’ Cardinal said. ‘Women who want to commit suicide almost never shoot themselves. They take an overdose, they use the car exhaust. We’ll get ident to do a gunshot-residue on her hand.’
    ‘Might not have to,’ Jerry said.
    The girl was in a wheelchair at the door, still smiling, an orderly behind her.
    ‘We’ve got the EEG results,’ the orderly said.
    Dr Fortis examined the printout.
    Jerry turned to him. ‘You said the entry wound is on the right?’
     
    ‘That’s correct. The right temple.’
    ‘Hey, Red.’ Jerry took a pen from his pocket. ‘Catch.’
    He tossed the pen over her head. A pale hand shot up and snagged it out of the air. Her left hand.
    ‘Well,’ Cardinal said. ‘So much for suicide.’

CHAPTER 2
    Algonquin Bay, with a population of 58,000 and only two small hospitals, cannot lay claim to any neurosurgeons of its own, which was why, forty-five minutes later, Cardinal was barrelling down Highway 11 toward Toronto, four hours south.
    When Dr Fortis had scanned the EEG results, he had ordered the redhead put into a neck brace and shot her full of antibiotics and anti seizure medication. Then he ordered up an ambulance. ‘She appears stable,’ he said, ‘but I’m seeing some seizure activity on her readout.They’ll want to operate on her right away.’
    ‘I’m pretty sure she’s not a suicide attempt,’ Cardinal said, ‘but I’ll get ident to do a gunshot residue on her before we leave.’
    ‘We?’
    ‘I’m going to have to accompany her. Be there when that bullet comes out of her head.’
    ‘Of course. Chain of evidence and all that. Have to be quick, though. The sooner she’s in surgery the better.’
    Using electric clippers, Dr Fortis shaved a small
     
    patch of hair away from the girl’s right temple. A placid smile played across her features, but otherwise she didn’t react at all.
    ‘Perfectly round entrance wound,’ Cardinal noted. ‘No burn, no smudge, and no tattooing.’
    ‘There’s no way that gun was fired within a foot of this girl,’ Jerry said. ‘I hope you find whoever pulled the trigger. Let me know if I can be any help. I’m heading home to enjoy what’s left of my day off.’ He waved at the girl. ‘You take care, Red.’
    The girl’s smile was frozen in place. The antiseizure medication was starting to take hold.
    Cardinal put in a call to Detective Sergeant Daniel Chouinard at home.
    ‘What is it, Cardinal? I’m watching Homicide, here.’
    ‘I thought that was off the air.’
    ‘Not in my house. I own the entire first three seasons on DVD. There’s something soothing about watching cops with problems a lot worse than mine.’
    Cardinal told him about the girl.
    ‘Well, you’ve got to go to Toronto and see that bullet come out. Is there anything else?’
    ‘That’s it.’
    ‘Good. Now, I’m going to go back and watch how those big-city cops handle things.’
    Bob Collingwood from ident section arrived a few minutes later. He was the youngest detective on the squad, and by far the quietest. He took some Polaroids of the girl’s wound, and gave them to
     
    Cardinal. Then he tested the girl with a GSR ‘dabber’, a flat, sticky object not unlike a tongue depressor, pressing it over the back of both her hands and into the space between thumb and forefinger. The girl appeared not to notice; it was as if she had disappeared from the room. Collingwood slipped the dabber into a baggie, handed it to Cardinal without a word, and went on his way.
     
    When Cardinal arrived home, he found his wife was excited about her own trip to Toronto, although she wasn’t leaving for