Page 37 of The Girl in the Woods

‘How long have you had that security camera?’ Ana pointed.

He wrinkled his brow. ‘I can’t remember. Maybe three years. Why? It’s not illegal, is it?’

‘Could I come in for a moment?’

‘Yeah, sure,’ he said helpfully. ‘I’m in the middle of work. What’s this about?’

‘A hit and run three months ago. Your security camera might have picked something up. How far is the range?’ She was finding it hard not to stare at his gorgeous face.

‘I remember that hit and run,’ he said. ‘It was terrible. The camera does pick up the road outside. Someone tried to nick my car once, so I got the camera.’

‘Does the memory go back three months?’

‘Yeah, I think actually eight months, but I’m not sure.’ He opened the door for her to enter. Ana somehow doubted she would get tea and bourbons here. He took her to the security camera, and she watched while he fiddled with it. Ana had no idea about security cameras, but it looked pretty expensive.

‘Yep,’ he said. ‘Eight months. I’ll leave you with it.’

Ana looked alarmed. ‘You’re kidding. I haven’t got a clue how to work these things. Can you do it?’

‘Are you serious?’

‘No, I’m joking. Us coppers joke a lot about hit and runs.’

‘A sense of humour, I see.’ He grinned. ‘Right.’ He sat beside her. ‘What date and time am I looking for?’

He smells gorgeous, too, thought Ana. She checked her notes. ‘It would be the 14th of April, sometime between 2145 and 2215.’ Ana watched the small screen closely.

He fiddled with some buttons, and the camera came to life. ‘Okay, here it is, the 14th of April. The lamp outside makes it a bit brighter, but it’s still quite dark. There were no cars at 9.45pm.’

Ana leaned in closer to the monitor. She could just make out the bus stop. At 10pm, two figures appeared.

‘That must be them,’ she said and held her breath.

At precisely 10.02pm, a car flew past and slammed into Vanessa. Ana watched in horror as she landed on the bonnet and fell to the ground.

‘Oh my God,’ she muttered.

‘Shit,’ exclaimed the guy at her side. ‘He just mowed her down.’

The place where the vehicle must have stopped, was out of range of the camera.

‘Damn it,’ muttered Ana. ‘Apparently, he stopped. Can we go back?’ she said, trying to hide her excitement. ‘I need to see the car.’

With shaking hands, he rewound the video until the car came into view again.

‘Freeze it there,’ Ana said, straining to see the car. But it was impossible to make out the number plate or colour. ‘Can we go forward a second?’ she asked.

‘That looks like a Golf or Polo to me,’ he said. ‘I can’t be sure, of course.’

Ana sighed. ‘If only I could see the reg.’

‘Too dark, and he was driving too fast.’

‘Bugger it,’ she said, standing up.

‘I’d still say that’s a Polo or Golf.’

‘Why do you say that?’ asked Ana.

---