“This guy came up behind me real fast. Scared me half to death. I was on my own and that and it was dark and you hear all sorts happening to girls—”
“And what was he doing?” Charlie interrupted, anxious to keep the girl on track.
“Running. Running real fast. He ran straight past me, never seemed to clock me at all.”
“What was he wearing?”
“Dark trousers and boots, I think.”
“Any coat?”
“Yeah, maybe. But his arms weren’t covered.”
Helen nodded. The details of the man they were after hadn’t appeared in the media yet, so unless this girl was lying or had seen the still, then this was the lead they’d been searching for.
“Did you see his face?” Charlie asked gently.
Naomie shook her head. “He went by too fast.”
“What about his hair color?”
“Brownish, I think.”
“Height?”
“’Bout six foot maybe.”
“Anything else?”
The girl shook her head.
“Anything at all?” Helen repeated, trying not to sound as anxious as she felt. There was hardly anything in this description that they didn’t already know.
There was a long pause, before Naomie finally replied:
“There was one other thing. He had a tattoo. On his arm.”
“What did it look like, this tattoo?
“It was a star, a big one.”
“Anything else?”
“The star had a crown and a flower in it. Kind of weird, you get me?”
Helen’s heart was beating faster now. Without looking, she could tell Charlie was feeling the same way. “What kind of flower was it, Naomie?”
Naomie thought hard, then finally said:
“A red rose.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Yeah, for real. Big one, it was.”
Helen nodded and thanked Naomie for her time. Leaving Charlieto run over the written statement with her, Helen hurried from the room. Already her mind was racing ahead, trying to see a way through the shit storm that now lay before her. Truth be told, therewasno simple or obvious way forward. The case had just taken a decisive and unwelcome turn.
For in her own faltering way Naomie had perfectly described the crest of Hampshire’s Fire and Rescue Service.
