The new mystery.

The Piano Man's fifteen minutes of fame are over. It's time for the Unknown Woman:

She appeared from nowhere on a rain-tossed morning, sitting naked on the shoreline, unable to speak.

Now she sits in a hospital bed, staring into space, mute and expressionless, her charts naming her simply as “Unknown”.

The mysterious appearance of the Western woman, aged between 35 and 45, last week beside the runway of a disused airport has put Hong Kong authorities in a bind, the police chief handling the unusual case said on Wednesday.

“We’ve tried interpreters in many different languages and sign-language experts but none of them appear to get though to her,” chief inspector Victor Ng told reporters.