White Corridor

After all these years, it’s too late not to stay involved Bryant thought, stumbling over the bared brown railway sleepers. / can’t stand on the sidelines any longer, even if it means taking my own life in my hands.

46

OMISSIONS

Janice Longbright rose before Bryant’s bookcase and pulled down the dust-encrusted volume entitled Sumerian Religious Beliefs & Legends. Seating herself behind his leather-topped desk, she thumbed forward to the sixth chapter and began to read.

In the primeval mists of Sumerian legend there first exists a heavenly ocean called the Abyss, from which gods, the ZU, emerged. Their servants were the Abgal, seven wise demigods who emerged from this ocean.

The detective sergeant shifted uncomfortably on her chair. J should be doing something of practical use, not sitting here wasting time, she thought. This is hopeless. But with no other course of action left than to heed Bryant’s recommendation, she read on.

One of the most legendary night wind spirits was the benevolent Lilith, who was associated with guarding the gate-way between the spiritual and physical realms. Her figure could be found on most Sumerian temple doorways. Lilith is usually represented holding the Rings of Shem, proof that she gained immortality by traversing the Underworld to gain sacred wisdom from the Tree of Knowledge. As the guardian of the Temple Mysteries, Lilith was the original ‘scarlet woman,“ the term originally referring to menstrual blood, and another symbol of divine power, fiery red hair. Ancient cultures often believed that red hair denoted one whose ancestors intermarried with fallen, i.e., demonic, angels. Because she connected two worlds, the dazzling Lilith was regarded as a goddess of transformation. Other goddesses of transformation included Hecate and Circe.

Longbright tapped a crimson nail against her teeth. Circe, she thought, the health club that creates beautiful women. What are you getting at, Arthur? She turned the page.

Many Sumerian traditions were inherited by the Greeks, whose legends correspond accordingly. Their divine nymphs brought about physical and spiritual regeneration in the form of sexual rites, from which we derive the term ‘nymphomania.“ Jews subsequently transformed the Sumerian Lilith into the consort of the Angel Samael.

“So she was a bit of a Goth,” said Longbright aloud. That wasn’t so unusual in Camden Town; there were so many that pubs painted with angels and demons specifically catered to them. She returned to the chapter.

The lovers Samael and Lilith passed their knowledge of the Angels to man and created a dynasty via intermarriage with humans, resulting in Lilith being punished by being turned into an essence without form. Lilith was said to appear in the natural world as a seductive spirit, confronting men who slept alone. Among recent variations and additions to this myth is one particularly prevalent among students of mythology who regard Samael and Lilith to be warring parts of the same human being, having been born as one creature incorporating both male and female genders. In this popular version of the legend, Lilith and Samael simultaneously love and hate each other. The battle for supremacy within this ‘male goddess’ can only be resolved when Lilith triumphs over Samael and transforms him into a complete woman. In this we can see the age-old struggle between male and female-

Longbright closed the book and carefully replaced it on the shelf as revelations tumbled through her mind.

No wonder everyone had been so guarded about admitting the truth. Lilith’s parents had not lied; they had, in a typically English manner, hoped their omissions would speak for themselves. They had borne and raised a redheaded son, Samuel, who had escaped from his stifling upbringing and come to London in order to change his life. It explained why his mother had been loath to find old photographs of the boy. Samuel had discovered the legend of the scarlet woman, the goddess of transformation, the woman in a man’s body. He had proudly changed the spelling of his name, even going so far as to have it tattooed onto his arm.

But the hormonal war being waged within him had only just begun, and it had been fought as it had between the ancient gods, with Samael finally being subsumed into the persona of Lilith.

Longbright thought, What did he do next? On completion of his own spiritual transformation, he had symbolically killed off his former self, removing the tattoo, undertaking lessons in everything from deportment to makeup with the aid of the helpful, unscrupulous Spender. There was nothing, after all, like a model with an outrageous press-friendly history, and The Temple’s new cosmetic lines needed publicity…

Sam Bronwin had come to London hoping to define his identity, and had been preyed upon. He had been fed hormones, had taken drugs-

She needed air. Standing at the opened crescent window, she thought about Owen Mills. Lilith had met him on the Crowndale Estate and had fallen deeply in love. What’s more, her love had been reciprocated, despite the fact that Lilith had been born a male, despite the fact that she took drugs to deaden her painful memories, despite the fact that she had possibly even turned tricks to pay for-

Longbright ran back to the desk and picked up the phone. “Giles, you’re still at Bayham Street?”

“I was just about to leave-‘

“Stay there until I arrive. And don’t touch anything.”

Longbright ran through the alleyway slush, darting between trucks and motorbikes on Camden High Street; the home-going rush hour had already started. At the morgue, she found Kershaw seated at Finch’s desk, resigned to the coming conversation, calmly awaiting her arrival.

“Giles, did you have any reason to examine Lilith Starr’s body?” she asked, catching her breath and looking around.

“I saw her when I first came to the morgue,” he replied guardedly. “Why?”

“I mean, did you make a full examination of her corpse?”

“No, there was no need. Finch had already conducted the preliminary examination.” Kershaw looked unnerved.

Omissions, she thought suddenly. He’s not telling me something.

“But you’re the one who found Oswald’s body. What did you do before you called me? I’m not saying you did anything illegal, but you did do something, didn’t you?”

“Look, Finch collapsed and died before he could put Lilith Starr’s corpse away, so I did it for him. You know the new regulations specify that they must be kept locked in the drawers when the room is occupied by nonmembers of staff.”

“I’m not doubting that you meant well, Giles, but as a consequence nobody else checked her after Oswald’s death. You have to open the body bag all the way and tell me what you see,” she said.

Kershaw slowly rose to his feet. “Okay, but-‘

“Just do it.” She waited, pacing the floor.

He unlocked the drawer and pulled it out, unzipping the body bag to the bottom. “Well, yes.” He sighed. “What do you want me to say, Janice? Lilith had had an operation, such a neat one that it’s pretty hard to spot.”

“She was born a man, Giles, born with the name Samuel Bronwin. I know gender reassignment has come a long way in the last few years, but you’d think that would be the first thing Oswald noticed during his examination, wouldn’t you? The first observation he’d write down in his report book? Owen Mills came to see Finch, to explain that he had made a pact with Lilith. He wanted to make sure that no-one found out the truth about her in the event of her death, so of course he followed her to the mortuary that morning. It wasn’t just for her sake, either, but for his. Mills has brothers and sisters who look up to him as a role model. Check her breasts for me.”

“I don’t have to; I already know they’ve been enhanced,” Kershaw confirmed. “I noticed it straight off when I first saw her lying there, but so many girls have augmentation these days that I doubted anyone else would spot it.”

“I think she had a spill. Mills said Lilith was vague and acting strangely the night of her death, complaining of a