My gaze crept across to Louise's battered sleeve. It looked as if they had cut slits in the skin of her thighs and then forced the wounds apart until they tore. Simple, crude and very effective. They would have made her watch while they did it, compounding the pain with terror. It's a gut-swooping experience seeing that happen to your body. On Sharya, the religious police used it a lot. She'd probably need psychosurgery to get over the trauma.