Page 36 of The Girl in the Woods

‘I’ll make some tea,’ offered Penny.

Ana requested a cold drink, which Penny supplied along with a plate of bourbon biscuits.

‘My favourite,’ said Ana, taking two.

Ana broached the subject of the accident carefully, explaining she didn’t have any new evidence but felt it wouldn’t hurt to check they hadn’t missed something. Unfortunately, Vanessa couldn’t remember anything after leaving the bingo hall. Penny related the incident, and her memory of it wasn’t clear either.

‘We always got the bus at the stop on the side road. If you get it in Summertown, you see, the queue is endless where everyone is leaving the bingo hall, so Nessa and I always walked that bit further to get the bus at the first stop. That way, we always got a seat. We were crossing the road to the bus stop when I heard loud booming music and saw this car roaring towards us. Before I knew it, it was on top of us. So I jumped onto the kerb, but Nessa never quite made it.’

Penny stopped and shuddered. She explained that the driver had stopped as though they were coming to help them.

‘Then someone else rushed towards us, and the driver closed the door and drove off.’

‘What time do you estimate this was?’ asked Ana.

‘Bingo finished at 9.30, so I guess it would have been about 9.45 by the time we’d walked to the bus stop. I told the other officers this.’

‘You say the driver stopped?’ said Ana. ‘Could you tell what make of car it was? Or the colour?’

Penny shook her head. ‘It was dark, and honestly, I don’t know much about cars and their types.’ Penny’s best description was that it was a small car and dark in colour, although she couldn’t be sure. Then she remembered something, and Ana sat forward excitedly.

‘Something I do remember, though, was a strange squeak when the car door opened like it needed oiling or something. It may not have been the car, though.’

Ana nodded. ‘Did you mention this to the police?’

‘I don’t remember. I may have done.’

‘That’s really helpful, thank you.’

Ana finished her drink, popped a bourbon into her pocket and stood up. Vanessa and Penny exchanged glances, a policewoman nicking a bourbon. Now, that was one to remember.

‘Thank you for your time,’ she said. ‘If you should remember anything else, please phone me,’ she said, handing Vanessa her card.

‘I’ll give it to Tim,’ said Vanessa, looking at the card. ‘It doesn’t have your address.’

‘No, it’s not sensible for us coppers to advertise where we live.’

‘Oh,’ said Vanessa. ‘I’d like to send you some bourbons to thank you for looking into this again.’

Ana laughed. ‘Oh well, I can’t resist bourbons.’

She jotted her address on the back of the card.

Penny grinned. ‘Expect more than one packet.’

Outside, the fresh air was a blessed relief. Ana popped the bourbon into her mouth and then checked Google Maps for the road where Vanessa’s accident occurred. At that moment, her phone rang.

It was Matt. ‘The card samples from the crime scenes show no body fluids when analysed, so we’re not going to get a DNA profile from those.’

‘Okay, thanks.’ Ana clicked off her phone.

Summertown was far busier than Stonesend but Ana soon found the Methodist church hall where the bingo had been held.

Standing at the bus stop where Vanessa and Penny had waited, Ana understood how they had not seen the car approaching the bend at the top of the road. Several houses looked out onto the street, but according to the file, no one heard anything until the sirens. Ana walked up and down the road several times before she saw the security camera outside a house directly opposite the bus stop.

A young man with dishevelled hair and a slightly bemused look answered the door. God, thought Ana, taking a step back, he’s bloody handsome, even with the dishevelled hair. ‘Hello, I’m DC Rawlins. Could I have a word?’

‘What’s the problem?’ he asked, running his hands through his hair.

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