‘Who says so? A sawbones like you? I don’t have to believe you, cully.’ ‘Hush, please,’ the nurse said urgently. ‘You’re upsetting the other patients, Mrs Fowler.’ ‘Perhaps you’d best send for a constable, nurse,’ Dr Murchison said, glowering. ‘I haven’t time to stand here and argue with this person.’ ‘Here, who are you calling a person?’ Minnie advanced on him with a belligerent set to her jaw. Eyeing Minnie nervously, Phoebe noticed for the first time that she had whiskers growing out of her chin like a man. This confirmed her long-held suspicion that Minnie Sykes was only half female. She held her breath, hardly daring to intervene in case she made matters worse. It was a stand-off now; a battle of wills between the doctor and the two sisters. ‘Well, ma’am. Make up your mind,’ Dr Murchison said icily. ‘Do I send for the police or will you agree to the life-saving operation on your child.’ ‘She’s no child,’ Ethel said, brazen to the last.
