“No way!” protested Jason.

So, all four men set out on the twenty-five minute drive to Glen Hartwell with Kim and Jason sitting a little nervously in the back of the Land-Rover with the corpse of the ape-man.   As they drove Jim Kane called through to notify Bear Ross in Glen Hartwell.   (Although Bear and Jim were both sergeants, by Victorian law when two or more country towns are policed by officers of the same rank, the officer in charge of the largest town has authority over the others.   Therefore, since Glen Hartwell easily dwarfed Harpertown, Bear Ross was senior to Jim, as he was to Mel Forbes in Merridale and Con Rodriguez in LePage.)

*      *      *

“What’s up?” asked Bear, who was waiting outside the steps of the morgue in Baltimore Drive as the Land-Rover drove up.   Conscious that anyone could be listening on the police band, Jim had not explained why they had needed to see him urgently.

Although he had seen the morning’s newspaper headlines, Bear had not taken seriously their reports of a “yowie” — as the Glen Hartwell papers were already calling the ape-man.   But looking into the back of the Rover at the large red-brown corpse, he had no choice but to believe.

“Holy Mother of God!” said Bear, instinctively crossing himself.   “Looks like the local rags were right for a change.”

“Yes,” agreed Jim Kane.

Seeing a few passers-by had already stopped to stare in wonder at the hairy corpse, Bear said, “Anyway let’s get it…him into the morgue before a real crowd gathers!”

*      *      *

Half an hour later the ape-man was laid out flat on a metal dissection table in the autopsy room near the rear of the morgue.

While Jerry “Elvis” Green and Gina Foley (head surgeon and co-ordinator at the Glen Hartwell and Daley City Hospital) prepared to perform an autopsy on the creature, Bear Ross, Jim Kane, Terry Blewett (Bear’s constable), Mel Forbes and Andrew Braidwood (Mel’s constable) all crowded round in the observation room watching.

“Jesus, what is it?” said Gina, thinking aloud.   (Due to successive state and federal governments squeezing the life out of the public service, although Jerry was able to employ Gloria Ulverstone as a steno-typist, he didn’t have sufficient funds to employ a qualified medical assistant.   Therefore, as the most senior doctor in the region, although not officially employed at the morgue, Gina Foley helped Jerry out on occasions.)