Case One by Chris Ould Page A

headed off towards her room. “Hi,” she said into the phone again. “Sorry.”
    â€œIt’s not too late for you is it?” her mum said.
    â€œNo, it’s okay. I’m on earlies tomorrow though, so I’m heading for bed in a few minutes.” She let herself into her room and closed the door behind her.
    â€œWho’s there with you?”
    â€œJust Sam.” Then she added: “Yvonne’s upstairs.” Her mum had liked Yvonne when they met and Holly knew she worried less if she thought Yvonne was around.
    â€œOh. Good,” her mum said.
    â€œHow’s things at home?” Holly asked, sitting on the bed and unlacing her boots with one hand.
    â€œOh, you know – okay.”
    Holly paused and assessed her mother’s tone, trying to work out how okay “okay” really was.
    â€œNo…
problems
?” They both knew what the euphemism referred to and although she always felt obliged to ask, it was times like this – when she was tired and just wanted to get to bed – that Holly hoped it wouldn’t be the start of a much longer, more emotional conversation.
    â€œNo, no, everything’s fine,” her mum said. “What sort of day have you had?”
    Holly relaxed a little at that and pushed her boots off. “It was all right. Nothing much. We had an RTC – Road Traffic Collision.”
    â€œOh dear. Was anyone hurt?”
    â€œNo, it was fine,” Holly said. “Nothing major.”
    In her head she saw the image of Ashleigh Jarvis lying in the road with no shoes on her feet, the probable victim of an accident and a rape.
    â€œListen,” she said. “Can I call you tomorrow? I need to get to bed. Is that okay?”
    â€œOf course, sweetie. Just as long as you’re all right.”
    â€œI am,” Holly said. “I’m fine.”

SATURDAY

1.
    MORNINGSTAR RD STATION
07:34 HRS
    It was only just getting light as Holly turned the corner into Morningstar Road. She had her hands pushed deep into her coat pockets and her hat was pulled down over her ears against the icy breeze.
    â€œHol?”
    The call came from behind her. When she turned to look she saw Sam jogging after her, his breath coming in clouds. Although he had a scarf wrapped round his neck he seemed too lightly dressed for the cold morning.
    Holly waited till he was alongside her then carried on towards the station.
    â€œAren’t you frozen?” she asked.
    â€œNope. Got my thermals on.”
    â€œToo much information, ’specially this early.”
    Sam chuckled. “Did you see Yvonne this morning?” he asked then.
    â€œUh-uh. Why?”
    â€œJust wondered if they’d got any further last night – you know, on the rape case.”
    Holly nodded. She’d been wondering the same thing more or less from the moment she’d got out of bed.
    â€œSuppose it’ll depend if the victim came round and told them what happened,” Sam went on. “We’ll probably be off it anyway though. I haven’t done the same thing two days running since we got here.”
    â€œNo, me either,” Holly said flatly.
    The frontage of Morningstar Road station was red-brick Victorian, with tall windows which emitted a sickly yellow light. However, behind the original structure, a larger and more modern building had been erected on the site of demolished houses and shops. This was where the majority of the station’s work was done, and there was no public access to the car park and Custody Yard which surrounded it.
    At the rear gate Holly swiped her security card through the reader and when the lock clicked she held the gate open for Sam to follow. Under the gaze of several security cameras they crossed to the main building and entered the nick through heavy glass doors.
    Inside it was warmer and the station corridors were getting busy with late-turn officers who’d come in to finish off reports before