Gina shook her head, hoping to hurry so she could speak to Bernard. She also didn’t want to put the woman out, especially as her toddler was beginning to fidget in her arms. She placed the little girl down, her two bunches bobbing as she ran over to a box of plastic farmyard animals and tipped them all on the floor. ‘Can I take your name, please?’
‘Alia Cole.’
‘Thank you.’
Jacob noted that down so Gina continued. ‘As you know, we’re investigating an incident on your road and one of our officers said that you have some information that might help us.’
‘Is Tina okay? I tried to call her but her phone’s off. I was getting worried. We’re quite close in this neighbourhood and we all try to look out for her mum.’
‘She’s been speaking with our officers. Hopefully she’ll be able to answer your calls soon. Can you tell me more about the driver of the car?’
‘We are talking about the silver Merc, aren’t we?’
‘Yes.’
‘I didn’t know it was parked on Tina’s drive until your PC spoke about it. Her driveway is covered by all those trees and the big oak, but a car matching that description came steaming up our road about midnight last Saturday and I really freaked out.’
‘What happened?’ Gina gave the woman a moment to compose her thoughts and a cat meowed as it entered the room.
‘This is Archibald, our very senior cat. He was out that evening. Our daughter had woken us up. While my husband was soothing her in the nursery, I came downstairs to put the kettle on. Moments later, I heard Archibald wailing, then a fox joined in. I got worried so I opened the front door and Archibald was nowhere to be seen. A moment later he darted into the middle ofthe road, wailing, just as that silver car sped into our road like it was competing in the Grand Prix and I don’t know how it missed my cat, I really don’t.’ She let out a long breath.
‘Did the driver pull over? You live in a cul-de-sac.’ Gina noticed that there had been cars parked all around the loop, almost bumper-to-bumper with only gaps left for drives.
‘No, the driver kept revving the car while doing a three-point-turn before speeding back out. I must admit, I was a bit shaken so I grabbed the cat and ran back in. We thought about reporting it but the car had already gone. I didn’t catch the number plate and no one was hurt. This kind of thing doesn’t normally happen around here.’
The toddler passed Jacob a plastic horse. ‘Thank you. I love your horse,’ he said.
The little girl smiled and shyly put her knuckle in her mouth.
‘I just can’t stop thinking, what if that happened in the daytime and what if we were outside getting into the car and he ran her over.’ Alia looked at her daughter.
‘It doesn’t bear thinking about.’ Gina paused. ‘Did you see the driver?’
‘Only briefly. We have a fair few street lamps. I’d say male, white, but he was wearing a dark sweater or hoodie – squarish jaw – I think. Oh, he was wearing a baseball cap which obscured his eyes as he seemed to be looking down.’ She shivered. ‘The whole incident is now giving me the creeps. I just read on social media that they found a body in the car, is that right?’
Gina felt her fists clenching. Of course, someone had already seen something from afar or had been watching through the trees next to the house, close enough to hear what the team had been saying. ‘We’re just starting to investigate so I can’t discuss the case. There will be a press release soon.’
‘Sorry, you’re right. I shouldn’t be so nosy. I’m just scared, that’s all. I worry about a lot, especially after becoming a parent.’
Gina glanced at the little girl who sweetly gave Jacob a plastic sheep. ‘That’s understandable. It’s a horrible thing to happen.’ Gina paused for a moment, then continued. ‘Is there anything else you can tell us about the incident or that night?’
‘I’m not sure if it’s relevant.’
‘If it isn’t that’s fine, but please tell us because it might be.’
‘The day before, I was walking back from a friend’s house and I walked past Tina’s drive. I thought I saw smoke or fog. It wasn’t too late, maybe about seven on Friday evening… I was sure I heard rustling in the trees alongside Tina’s house. I got scared and ran the rest of the way home. My husband went out to see if anyone was there but he said there wasn’t. I don’t know…’ She frowned. ‘I just got this feeling someone had been watching me approach and that they’d accidentally moved and drawn attention to themselves. It sounds odd but it’s like I felt a person’s gaze on me despite not being able to see anyone.’ Alia dismissively waved a hand. ‘Maybe I’m being silly.’
‘Where did you hear this noise coming from?’
‘By the trunk of the oak tree. It’s huge, perfect size to hide behind. When I heard there had been an incident, I wondered if there had been someone there that night, scoping the place out.’ She shivered. ‘I feel sick at the thought now.’
Jacob’s phone beeped. He led Gina into the hallway before speaking in a whisper while Alia comforted her now crying toddler in the other room. ‘That was Wyre. The owner of the car, Maura Pickering. She died a month ago.’
FOUR
Gina kept up with Jacob as they hurried back to Tina Wild’s house. ‘So, the car owner died a month ago? Did Wyre say anything else in her message?’
‘Only that the car had been SORN.’ Jacob checked the road before they crossed. ‘We’ll have an address to follow up on which is good. Who takes a SORN car that belonged to a dead woman?’
