Page 65 of She Saw What He Did

The lights are red, but he doesn’t slow down. They turn green as we reach them, and I cry with relief. We are now on another country lane and heading towards home. The blue van is no longer behind us.

‘It’s gone,’ I say, but Jared doesn’t slow down.

I turn back to the front and am about to breathe a sigh of relief when I see the police car coming towards us. Jared obviously doesn’t see it and overtakes the car in front. I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. I’m frozen with fear. Jared sees the police car too late. He swerves to avoid it. There’s a terrible thud and the scraping of metal against metal before the car finally comes to a stop embedding itself in a ditch. I’m thrown against the door and pain jars through my shoulder. My only thought is the box. I’m paralysed with fear at losing it.

‘Are you alright?’ asks Jared, leaning over me.

A policeman jumps down into the ditch and opens my door.

‘I’m fine,’ I say.

‘Are you okay sir,’ asks the policeman.

‘Yes,’ says Jared. ‘We were …’

‘I really think we should get you both checked over,’ says the policeman. ‘You can explain why you were speeding later.’

*

Ellen waited at a corner table in the lounge area of The Admiral. Peter was late again, and Ellen drummed her fingernails on the table. She was starving. If she’d known he was going to be late she’d have eaten something back at the flat. She pulled her phone from her bag to check he hadn’t messaged and saw that she had a missed call from Weis. She clicked into it and he answered immediately.

‘Hi Ellen. Did you get my voicemail?’

She felt her heart flutter at the sound of his voice and felt embarrassed.

‘I’m in the local,’ Ellen said. ‘It’s a bit noisy,’ she explained.

‘It’s probably nothing but I thought you might like to be kept informed.’

Ellen felt a tingle run down her spine.

‘We had a call from Fernsea police station. It was a courtesy call. They’re aware of the murder investigation.’

Ellen wished he’d get to the point.

‘What’s happened?’ she asked, prompting him.

‘Abby and Jared Miller were involved in a car accident early this evening …’

Ellen sat forward.

‘Are they okay?’ she asked.

‘Yes but they’re being very evasive about the whole thing. It seems Jared Miller was speeding.’

Ellen frowned.

‘I don’t understand,’ she said. ‘People speed, don’t they?’

Weis chuckled.

‘You’re right. The odd thing is they were only half a mile from Gloucester Road. I’m taking it that you haven’t seen the news this evening?’

‘I’m in a pub,’ she reminded him. ‘The only thing on this screen is bloody football.’

‘Right,’ he said, and she heard the smile in his voice. ‘There was a double murder at Gloucester Road. It was pretty gruesome by all accounts. A husband and wife tortured and then murdered.’

Ellen shivered. She’d suddenly lost her appetite.

---