Spiritwalker by Siobhan Corcoran Page B

seemed to have been close enough to get a good view of the vehicle used in the abduction.  He knew that there was no way she could have seen any of that from the house.  The road wasn't visible from the house.  The only way she could have seen it was if she had been closer.  He didn't blame D S Waters for not probing her more thoroughly. He wouldn't have been aware of geography of the house or its distance from the road.  D S Waters was famous for his kid glove treatment of the younger prettier ladies, and Anna Cotter certainly is a looker, Morley thought to himself.  He was anxious to interview her and clear up those niggling questions. That interview would have to wait though.  First he wanted to go over Jane Turner's case again and then he wanted to interview the girl.  He now felt that there must be a connection between the two, it was almost tangible.  He pulled out the file and poured over it, carefully reading every interview and checking every piece of evidence.  The more he read the less easy he became. They had dropped the ball on that case.  He was beginning to realise that her sister had been right the whole time. Jane Turner had been abducted...Or worse. Hindsight is great, He reflected as he read through Eva Westhall account of the belongings of her sister's that were missing.  It was more what wasn't missing that bothered him now. 
                It was after eleven when he finished reviewing the file and all his notes on Jane Turner's disappearance.  He checked his watch surprised at the length of time he had been engrossed in his work.  He rang the hospital to find out if Sassy Westhall had been discharged.  He was informed that she had. 
    He decided to go to the Westhall's and interview the girl.  He was wondering what she had been doing out at that time of night alone in the first place.  Maybe she knew the man who abducted her.
            Sassy Westhall was lying on the couch in the living room when he arrived.  She looked tired and drawn from her ordeal.  Her parents were fussing over her and it looked to DI Morley as if the girl wasn't going to be let out of their sight any time soon and who could blame them if he had children he knew he would move heaven and earth to protect them too.   He interviewed Olana first but found that she didn't have anything of value to add.  She had stayed overnight with her sister and hadn't known anything about last night's events until she returned to the house in the morning.   She was fussing around Sassy and muttering to herself in Polish and blessing herself every now and then.   Eva sent her out of the room to make refreshments for them, explaining to the inspector that she had been like that since they arrived home.  D I Morley pulled a chair close to Sassy and sat down.
    “Do you feel up to talking about last night?” he asked Sassy gently.
    She looked at her parents worriedly and tears began to form in her eyes.
    “It’s okay love” her mother said softly, “We know about Danny, he rang your father earlier to check on you.  Don't worry we're not cross, we just wish you had told us about him instead of sneaking off without telling anyone.  You are still only fourteen.”
    “I'm nearly fifteen.  Anyway Danny's not much older he's only seventeen.  I was supposed to be meeting him, he passed his driving test a couple of weeks ago and his dad has just bought him a new car and he wanted to take me out and show it off”  Sassy said.  “I was waiting for him to show up, then next thing I know someone is grabbing me from behind and putting something over my mouth.  I tried to get away but my legs just sort of turned to jelly and I must have fainted.  I don't remember anything else until I woke up in the hospital.”
    “Can you give me a description of the person who attacked you?” Morley asked
    “I didn't see him.” Sassy insisted.  “It was dark and he grabbed me from behind.”
    “Are you sure it was a