cam(illa)

Ever since the skeleton of transvestite dog breeder Camilla Lyman was found in the muck of her septic tank nearly two years ago, detectives have struggled to find solid clues that would help unmask her killer.

The daughter of a prominent Bostonian, Lyman vanished from her 40-acre estate in rural Hopkinton in 1987. No one immediately told police she was missing, not even her supposed friends. There was talk she'd gone to Europe for a sex change. There was no sign of Lyman until 1997, when her body was found in the septic tank by two men who had just purchased her house.

She grew a mustache with the help of steroids intended for her dogs, sported a short haircut and tweed jackets, and changed her name to the more masculine Cam -- all the while becoming alienated from her siblings.