Started Early Took My Dog.......2 things I don't get

[minxthemanx]

I'm probably being thick, or maybe just sleep deprived as in Gt Ormond St with DS1 at the mo - finished Started Early last night. Can't work out;

1. what Kelly Cross meant when she said "she's not....." about the little girl that Tracy bought. She's not what? Was it meant to be llearning difficulties? Who is her real Mum?
   
   
2. When they found Carol Braithwaite's body it had bad abdominal wounds and stab wounds - but I thought the policeman/client just strangled her? Who carved her up?
   
   Sorry if I've missed something, but it's bugging me. Loved the book though.

[minxthemanx]

Bump - it's driving me nuts!

[cejay]

Yeh, I seem to remember being confused by the"she's not" thing as well but there was something about the end that seemed unfinished - as if she's going to put that into another story. So maybe we're not meant to know yet. Unless I've missed something too.

[smearedinfood]

Just finished it too, totally missed the abdominal wounds.

Why did Courtney not ask where her Mum is? That bit confused me...

[smearedinfood]

Was Kelly Cross inferring she's not hers? Because her sister didn't recognise her. All maybe it was something to do with her ears needing a good clean and some specs

[KaraToytown]

I thought it was Kelly that was stabbed. Although I read it very quickly, couldn't put it down.

I think there is more to come with Tracy and Courtney's story.

[Topcat11]

There is a hint about Courtney. When Tracy is bathing her, she notices Courtney has a birthmark shaped like Africa on her arm. Then, when Jackson is reminiscing about that job he had looking for missing children, he remembers certain features from the photos of the children, and one of the features he remembers is a birthmark shaped like Africa. At the end, Jackson has something that is nagging at him but he can't put his finger on it - the implication is that he's seen Courtney's birthmark and it's rung a bell in his subconscious but hasn't linked it with the photo he remembers. Therefore it seems that Courtney is one of the missing children that Jackson and his friend were looking for - but who she really is and how she ended up with Kelly Cross I don't know!
I don't remember Carol Braithwaite's body being stabbed - are you sure you're not confusing that body with Kelly Cross's body, which, if I remember rightly, was mutilated?