Page 26 of Then She Vanished

‘He plays pranks on me and some of the others. It’s normally quite innocent and just for laughs. One of his recent ones was to squirt red strawberry sauce all over the showers before I cleaned them. I ran out so fast and screamed my head off. The others were laughing. They don’t know about my phobias, and similar jokes have been played before on everyone at some point. It’s just a bit of fun to pass the time away, and mostly started by the younger cleaners.’

From the look on Keeley’s face, Gina could tell that the incident hadn’t been born out of a practical joke. ‘So, you see these stuffed clothes and what next?’

‘I had my phone in my hand and I said something like, “I’m going to call the police”. Then, out of nowhere, the attacker came up behind me and knocked my phone flying. It’s now smashed to pieces and he started trying to force me into the van. He had mywrists behind my back. I managed to wriggle free while my head was pushed into the stuffed shirt. I thought I was going to die.’ She let out a slight hiccup of a cry. ‘I managed to get hold of a travel mug I found under the clothes and I hit him with it. I don’t know where I hit him. Somehow, I escaped his grip and ran.’

‘Where did you run to?’

‘Past the gate, onto the pavement. I kept screaming, but no one heard me and I knew he was catching up. He managed to grab my jacket and he dragged me back to the van where he tried to force me into it. I thought he was going to kill me. All I could think of was my boys and Morgan. I wondered if I’d ever see them again, so I kicked out with all the strength I had. He yelped and I saw him double over. Maybe I caught his groin. I must have for him to look that hurt. Then I ran all the way to the school and the first person I saw was Lucie. She locked the door behind us. We looked out the window, but the van was gone.’

‘Did you see any of the other staff at that time?’

‘Joan, Ally, Ted and Cara came running as they’d heard me screaming and crying in the sports hall.’

‘Did you see the caretaker, Mr Whitmore?’

‘No, he doesn’t always come by until after shift. He opens up around five thirty and then goes back to his house on site, so I wouldn’t expect to see him.’

‘You say it was a man, can you describe him?’

‘He had a man’s voice, or a deep voice. A masculine build. Not well built as in hugely muscular, but strong arms and angular. He was wearing, I don’t know, maybe combat trousers in a sandy colour, a black long-sleeved T-shirt, black gloves and the ski mask.’

‘Ski masks have a horizontal oval slit where the eyes are. Did you look at his eyes?’

‘It was all so fast. I know he was a white male.’

Gina watched Jacob note all that down. ‘How about eye colour?’

Keeley shrugged. ‘I barely saw his eyes. His eyebrows didn’t look too dark in colour, but I’m not sure if I’ve added that detail after.’

‘How about his height?’

‘He was taller than me. I’m five-seven. I don’t know how much taller he was, and he was wearing black boots.’

‘Was there anything else, maybe a smell, a sound or something you saw that might help?’

Inhaling slowly, Keeley took a moment. She closed her eyes and hugged herself. ‘He had strong body odour, but I guess that isn’t much help. Let me try to think about the van again. When I glanced into the driver’s side, there was something hanging from the rear-view mirror. It was a chess piece.’

‘Do you know which chess piece it was?’

Keeley shook her head. ‘Hang on, it was the horse, a white one.’

Gina thought back to when she had learned to play chess as a child, with her own father. The horse, or the knight, moved in an L-shape and could jump over other pieces to land on a blank square. Maybe the killer was trying to say he could go anywhere, over anyone and not be noticed.

Or maybe it was just a chess piece.

‘Here’s my card. If you think of anything else, please call me straight away. An officer will take you to the station shortly so you can give a formal statement.’

She nodded. ‘Okay. Can I go and see my husband now?’

‘Yes, and thank you. I’m sorry about what happened to you today. You must have been terrified.’

‘I still am. What if he’s coming back for me?’

‘One of the team will talk to you about what happens next. We don’t yet know if this was a targeted attack, so I’d like afamily liaison officer to join you when you get home, and we’ll be stationing an officer outside your house for your safety.’

‘Do you think I was chosen by some sicko?’

‘At this stage, we don’t know, but some of the details you have provided make me think that.’

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