Chapter 20

Home / The Girl in the Woods / Chapter 20

The Girl in the Woods

Lynda Renham

Add to Library

Chapters

Settings

CHAPTER TWENTY

A na approached Ruth, the administrator, who was tapping madly at her keyboard. ‘Hi, I'm DC Rawlins. The new girl,' she added, smiling and holding out her hand.

Ruth didn't look up.

Don't go overboard with the welcome , thought Ana.

‘Hi,' Ruth finally replied, tapping away at the keyboard as though her life depended on it. Ana was surprised sparks weren't flying off it.

‘I need the file on Vanessa Smith, hit and run about three months ago. I understand you're the person to ask.'

Ruth stopped typing and looked up. Ana stared in amazement at the pink painted fake cupid's bow above Ruth's upper lip and the bright blue eyeshadow smudged across her eyelids.

‘That file is closed,' said Ruth, fluttering her heavily mascaraed lashes. Her tone was final, and she returned to her mad typing.

Ana said, ‘Yes, I know that, but I still need it.'

‘On whose authorisation?' asked Ruth in a pompous voice.

Ana sighed. Miss bloody Gestapo, or what?

‘That case is closed,' said Luke Carpenter from behind her.

Ana took a deep breath and turned to face him. ‘DS Harper said I could look into it.'

‘You're reopening the case?' he asked. ‘No one mentioned anything to me. I was in charge of Vanessa Smith's case. Why didn't you come to me?'

Ana looked closely at him. He was in his early forties, she guessed. The gold band on his left finger told her he was married. There was an arrogance about him that she didn't like. Some instinct told her he was most likely a male chauvinist pig. ‘I didn't know you were in charge of the case,' she said. ‘Otherwise, I would have.'

‘Well, I was, and I can't see anything to look into unless you've got a new lead.'

Bloody male ego , thought Ana tiredly. ‘I'm not questioning anyone's ability,' she said. ‘Obviously, if you're unhappy, you can take it up with the boss.'

‘I might well do that.'

‘Not a problem.' Ana turned away from him and asked Ruth, ‘If you could leave it on my desk.'

Without glancing at Luke, she walked to her desk. Ruth swept past her, leaving a strong, musky scent in her wake. Ana sneezed. A few minutes later, Ruth slapped a file onto her desk. Ana mouthed thanks , but Ruth seemed to ignore her.

Ana became aware that Luke was watching her and pretended not to notice. A few moments later, he walked from the station.

‘Wanker,' she said under her breath.

The file didn't tell her much at all. A hit and run on a small side road in Summertown. Ana looked up Summertown, a town close to Oxford. CCTV cameras hadn't revealed anything, and there had been no witnesses to give details of the car. An investigation was carried out, but as there were no clear leads, the officers on the case had nothing to follow. Ana sighed. The only witness was Vanessa's friend, who said she'd rushed to Vanessa's aid and couldn't give much information on the car.

Ana grabbed her cardigan and made for the door.

Tim Smith's home was on a housing estate in Longbridge. The front garden was immaculate, overflowing with a variety of shrubs. A woman opened the door. Ana soon learnt this was Vanessa's friend, Penny, who had been with Vanessa at the time of the accident. Ana couldn't believe her luck. Vanessa and Penny couldn't have been more helpful when she explained who she was and why she'd come.

Hot air blasted her as soon as she entered the immaculate hallway. A polished sideboard held a sparkling crystal vase with red roses. Like the hallway, the living room was scrupulously clean and hot, and Ana began sweating. ‘It's warm in here,' she said, removing her cardigan.

‘Vanessa feels the cold,' said Penny.

What cold? thought Ana. It's bloody summer. I'll be down to my underwear at this rate.

‘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.

‘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.

‘I had a Golf. It looks like one of the older makes.'

‘Great, thanks for your help Mr…'

‘Jonny,' he smiled. ‘Jonny Manners.'

‘Jonny, thanks. I'll let you get back to work.'

‘I was just about to make a coffee if you'd like one.'

She checked the time. What she wouldn't do to say yes, but she had to get back. ‘That would have been great, but I need to be somewhere else.'