The woman nodded and rubbed her eyes. ‘There was a boy here. At first I thought he was also hurt but then he started coming closer to me and I got scared. That was when I called the police. He knocked my phone out of my hands and ran away.’
‘I’d like to speak with you but I just need to check in with my colleague.’ She needed to confirm what she’d been told. Heading over to PC Smith who was guarding the outer cordon while forensics began to put a tent up, she stopped and glanced over. ‘Is it definitely Taylor?’
‘Yes, guv. She hasn’t been formally identified but it’s definitely her unless she has a twin sister. She has ID on her too.’
‘Do we know how she died?’ She peered over and spotted Bernard’s lanky shadow elongated across the pavement. The portable light flickered as he shifted its position.
‘I think Bernard would like to speak with you in a short while but it looks like a stab wound to the neck.’
Gina grimaced. ‘Thank you. I’m going to take Elouise over there to sit on the bench. I’ll take a statement from her. In the meantime, call a dog team and get some officers on foot searching the area. Any sign of the weapon?’
He nodded. ‘A knife was found in the verge. It’s been bagged and placed in evidence.’
‘I’ll speak to Bernard about that in a short while, thank you. Call in and arrange for door to doors on the bordering houses too. Wait, isn’t Annabel’s house just the other side of that field?’
‘Yes.’
‘Interview her neighbours. First Annabel going missing and now Taylor being murdered. This is no coincidence.’
‘I’ll get that all sorted, guv.’
‘Thank you.’ The sound of an owl hooting in the distance would have normally been something to enjoy but not tonight, not under the backdrop of a murder. ‘Elouise, would you come over to the bench? We can sit there?’ The woman followed her. ‘First things, did you touch the body?’
Elouise sat under the lamplight and nodded, biting her bottom lip as if she’d done something wrong. She dipped her head. ‘I know I shouldn’t have but I thought she might still have been alive so I checked her pulse. I screwed up.’
‘You didn’t screw up. You did the right thing when you checked to see if she was still alive. But, I do have to ask if we can take your clothes and some swabs. Forensics will handle all that. Something from the murderer may have been transferred onto you when you helped.’
‘This is my best coat.’
‘Really sorry.’ Gina tilted her head. ‘We need to catch whoever has done this.’
‘God, I don’t know what I was thinking by saying that. Of course you do. What an idiot. Yes, I have other coats. I’m really messing this up.’ Elouise began to shake.
‘Bear with me.’ Gina ran over to the paramedic and grabbed a foil blanket, then ran back. She placed it over the trembling woman’s shoulders. ‘I know this is hard but can you tell me what time you found the body?’
Elouise pulled the blanket close to her neck and scrunched it with her hands to stop the cold from getting in. ‘I left my staff in charge of the pub to walk Bippy just before nine. He’s my sister’s dog. I’m looking after him while she’s on holiday. I’d only been walking for about five minutes when I spotted something at the edge of the path. At first, I thought it might be a bin bag. I got angry because it wouldn’t be the first time I’d found fly-tipped bags on the lane. When I got there, I saw that it was a body and what I thought was a bag, was dark clothing. Holding the dog under my arm, I kneeled over her. That’s when I saw all the blood around the girl’s head. I quickly checked for a pulse and then I stood. Then I saw a boy lying in the verge, staring like he was in shock. I asked him if he was okay but then he stood and started taking steps towards me. I thought he was going to attack me, that’s when I called the police. He knocked my phone out of my hand then ran through the bushes, just by the body. I waited back here until police officers arrived and that’s it.’
‘Can you tell me what time you came across the boy and the body?’
‘A little after nine.’
‘Can you describe the boy?’
‘That’s going to be hard. It was so dark but I’ll give it a go. He was about my height, so maybe five feet six inches. He was wearing a dark coat, like a raincoat, a sporty one, maybe. The pull strings were white so I could see them against the dark coloured material. Maybe he had jeans or cords on. Thin legs. I suppose I got a sense of his shape. He was quite skinny. Really dark hair, maybe black. As a bit of the light from my phone caught his profile, his hair shone. Really sleek hair, and thick. I didn’t catch his features at all; just his dark eyes. Really sorry. It all happened within a matter of seconds.’
Gina noticed that the lane was on a slight slope and that Elouise would have been standing a little above the boy. She made a note that he could be a little taller than she had estimated. ‘Did he say anything?’
‘No, he just ran through the cut in the shrubs and trees and across the field. There was something else and maybe I’m imagining things. I mean, I could hardly hear with blood pumping all through my body but I’m sure I heard rustling from behind the trees as I arrived on the scene. There may have been someone else there. I did listen out for the noise again as I approached but I didn’t hear anything. Maybe something or someone scarpered. I know there are a lot of foxes around here but I don’t think it was a fox. Foxes don’t sound like boots treading on twigs. Maybe the boy had a friend with him. Who knows?’ Elouise paused.
‘Are you okay?’
She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. ‘No, what if whoever did this wants to hurt me now?’ She glanced at the tent. ‘I saw the body. I saw all the blood around her neck. Someone killed her, just like that and it could have been me if I’d been out walking Bippy just a little bit earlier.’
Gina looked into her lap, giving Elouise a moment. ‘We’re still investigating but I think this was a targeted attack and relates to an ongoing investigation. I know someone has spoken to you briefly about the hit-and-run and the missing woman.’
‘Yes, an officer popped by to take a statement and a copy of our CCTV footage. It was Annabel and Jennifer. I know those two ladies. They’ve been in a few times. I mean, I don’t know them well, just their names. Has this girl’s murder got something to do with what happened to them?’
‘Hopefully, we will have more information to release soon. Can you tell me how Jennifer and Annabel seemed that night, when they were at the Angel, drinking?’
