Page 9 of The Girl in the Woods

Beth flexed her neck and wished the painkillers would kick in. ‘Any sign of the kid?’

‘No, nothing.’

Several people were standing in the Moulson’s living room.

‘Mr Moulson?’ she asked, looking around. A man stepped in front of her. Beth guessed him to be in his early fifties. His face was pock-marked like he’d had terrible acne when he was younger.

‘That’s me,’ he said, his voice cold and hard, his face twisted in anger.

Beth met his angry eyes. ‘I’m DS Harper. You called me.’

A younger, good-looking man stepped forward. ‘I’m Hale–’

‘I’ll speak to Mr Moulson first if you don’t mind,’ said Beth firmly.

Hale glared at her before stepping back.

‘This is him,’ said Will, shoving his phone with the photo into her face. The image was grainy, and the features were unclear.

‘What was the ladder for?’ asked Beth

‘We were trying to stop him,’ said Hale. ‘He woke up my baby. It takes long enough to get her to sleep as it is.’

‘You do realise that if you’d knocked that lad off his bike and caused him an injury, serious or otherwise, you’d be looking at a charge of grievous bodily harm?’

Moulson gave a sarcastic laugh. ‘Are you serious? That kid is tormenting everyone. Unbelievable.’

‘I’m just putting you in the picture for the future, Mr Moulson.’

‘He races through here all the time. He doesn’t wear headgear, and the bike has no number plates or silencers. Surely you can take the bike off him,’ said Hale.

‘I understand your frustration–’ she began.

‘Do you?’ Moulson broke in sharply. ‘Was he racing through Stonesend? Did he wake you up?’

‘The only person who woke me up, Mr Moulson, was you.’

‘No one from Stonesend reported it,’ said Matt.

Will’s hands were tightly clenched, and his shoulders rigid. Beth felt his anger seemed out of control, and for a second, it crossed her mind that he might hit her, and she stepped back slightly.

‘Can’t you confiscate the bike?’ asked Hale.

‘It’s not as easy as that, I’m afraid,’ said Beth, becoming aware of the slim, auburn-haired woman standing to her right, attempting to fade into the wallpaper.

‘Well, it bloody ought to be,’ said Hale.

Beth ignored him. ‘Do you know the lad, Mr Moulson?’

‘If I did, he wouldn’t still be doing it. We think he’s from that dump at the end of the village, Ludbrook Grove.’

Beth saw the woman flinch at the name.

‘Did he threaten you?’ Beth asked, turning to her.

Leigh shook her head. ‘Oh no, but they’re a bit of a rough crowd by all accounts.’

‘We’re aware of them,’ said Matt.

---