‘Course not. Shall I get you some chocolate, Maddie?’
Madison nodded. ‘Thanks, Alice. I’d love some. I think I deserve it. Won’t be counting calories while I’m stuck in here feeling sorry for myself.’
‘Back in five.’ Alice left the room and the door softly closed behind her.
Madison pushed the overhead television away from her body. ‘Have you found him?’ She winced as she sat up a little.
Shaking her head, Gina sat and Jacob pulled his notebook from his pocket. ‘Sorry, not yet, but we need to ask you some questions. I can see you’re in a lot of pain so I’ll try not to keep you long.’
‘Don’t worry about that. I just want him caught.’
‘Please tell us what you know from the beginning. Include everything, however small.’ Gina gave Madison a warm smile to put her at ease.
Rubbing her head, Madison stared at the sink on the opposite wall as she thought back. ‘Nanna was taken into hospital yesterday. She had a fall but she’s okay. I stayed with her while we were waiting for her to be discharged.’ She paused and swallowed. ‘I left Nanna in the foyer to get the car. I usually park outside the entrance as she’s not very mobile. When I’d arrived earlier the car park was full, but there’s a patch of rough tarmac at the back that is used as an overspill car park. When I went back to get the car it was dark.’
A tear trickled down her cheek.
‘I know this is hard but you’re doing really well. You’ve been through a lot so just take your time.’ Gina placed one hand over the other and leaned back to put Madison at ease and not rush her.
‘That’s when I saw him, well his outline. It was dark. He had a walking stick and looked a bit wobbly. I think I offered to help him or if I didn’t, I intended to. It’s a bit of a blur. I remember being scared and I remember fighting him off me. I can’t remember how I came to be doing that, it happened so fast. I kneed him in the groin at one point and he yelped but that didn’t put him down. He was still coming for me and I ran towards the bushes. I thought, if I can just hide, he’ll give up and go. He hit me with something hard but I can’t remember when. If it was before I kneed him, or after…’
‘You’re doing great.’
‘I remember my heart pounding. I thought I was going to die. I kept thinking about the other student, Amber, and I didn’t want to end up in a lake, dead. I tried to be quiet but my head… it was spinning and next thing, I was out of it. I don’t remember being brought into the hospital and I don’t remember last night. I had weird dreams and woke up this morning wondering where I was and then I called Alice – she’s one of my best friends. Apparently the staff persuaded Nanna to get a taxi home in the night.’
Gina tilted her head. ‘Can you tell us what your attacker looked like?’
Madison pulled her sheet up a bit further, almost up to her neck. Gina could see the trembling of her hands under the sheet. ‘It was pitch-black. There are no lights up there. I remember him being bulky; either he was wearing layers or larger built. It felt like layers when he grabbed me, not muscle if you know what I mean. A scarf covered the bottom of his face and he wore a hat, just a woolly hat or hood but I couldn’t make out any features. I’d just walked straight up from the lit area into darkness. My eyes hadn’t properly adjusted to the change in light then it all happened so quickly, I panicked. I fought like mad and I think I hurt him but I wasn’t going to make it easy for him to take me. I read that most attackers don’t think that people will fight back, that we freeze. I fought knowing that my life probably depended on it and I hid. I didn’t want to die.’ A few tears became a sob.
‘Did he speak to you?’
She nodded. ‘It was more of a murmur or a whisper. I didn’t recognise his voice but then again, I wouldn’t if he was speaking like that.’
‘Is there anyone I can call to be with you?’
‘No, I have Alice here and my friend Tyrone will be around when they let me go later. I just want to feel better so that I can leave.’ Madison nervously scratched her arm. ‘I live close to where Amber lived. Is there someone stalking our area? We both go to the same uni.’
Gina flicked back a couple of pages in her notes and glanced at Jacob. She knew they were both thinking the same thing. ‘You mentioned someone called Tyrone?’
‘Yes. Tyrone Heard. He lives in the same block that Amber lived in but he was waiting for someone to move out of ours so that he could be with us. We’ve been close friends over the past year, Tyrone, Alice and I.’ She paused. ‘It wasn’t Ty before you ask. He’s the gentlest guy anyone could meet.’
Gina begged to differ. How people often presented themselves to the world didn’t always tie up with the real them behind closed doors. She only had to think of her ex-husband Terry. No one would have believed he could have raped and beaten her for years. She held back on questioning Madison any further on Tyrone but made a note to look further into his whereabouts on both occasions. ‘Is there anything else you can think of that might help us to find your attacker?’
There was a knock at the door. Alice held up a takeaway cup and a chocolate bar. Madison put her hand up and nodded. Alice disappeared from the window. ‘On Monday this week, I thought someone might be following me but they probably weren’t. I think my imagination just got the best of me.’ She wiped her eyes.
‘Tell me anyway.’ Gina felt the life coming back into her feet from being in the cold too long. She undid a couple of coat buttons as she waited for Madison to start – the hospital was stuffy. Jacob leaned against the back wall, standing with his notepad cupped in one hand and his pen in the other.
‘When I left Nanna’s I saw someone on the lane, the one that leads to the side of the Angel Arms, well just a little back from the pub. That person was loitering by the trees but they might have been waiting for a dog. There’s something else… When I got to the pub, I went to the loo. I was in a cubicle and someone came in and stood outside the door. They were wearing black boots. I know that because I crouched down and looked underneath. A moment later, whoever it was turned the lights off and left. I ran out of there as quick as I could but I couldn’t see anyone around. I heard rustling out the back of the pub, by the bushes. Thinking about it, I do know if you carry on through them they lead back to the lane. Do you think he could have been stalking me? I thought it was Tyrone and Alice playing a joke but they swear they weren’t.’
Jacob noted down what she was saying.
‘We’ll secure the CCTV from the pub, see if we can see anyone loitering around on that night.’ Gina loosened her shirt. ‘Can you tell us what time this was?’
‘About eightish, I think. And there was something else.’
‘What was that?’
‘When I left to go to the hospital to see Nanna, there was a man looking for a hedgehog under a car. He said it was a baby but I know that it couldn’t have been. It’s not the right time of the year. Again it was dark and I barely got a glimpse of him but I think it was the same man. Alice came out to speak to me. When I turned around, he’d gone and she didn’t see him. That was weird. My head’s hurting. I think my painkillers are wearing off.’
