What She Saw by Mark Roberts Page A

’cause of what they did to me.’ Her voice was soft, fragile and new to being broken by the world. She smiled but her eyes dipped like birds pressed down by a storm.
She is learning about suffering
. The thought saddened Rosen. She looked directly at him and said, ‘I’ve never had a day off school in all my life. And I’ve never been late and it’s spoiled it all now. And it ain’t my fault. Afternoon register’s one o’clock in school.’ His heart was captivated
    â€˜Which school would that be?’
    â€˜Bream Street Primary.’
    â€˜Don’t worry. If you’ve got something to tell me, I’ll phone the school and explain that I made you late.’
    Rosen glanced at Bellwood and took in the mother in the same moment. He knew that Bellwood would intervene to distract the mother if she interfered with her daughter’s testimony.
    â€˜I’d very much like to hear what happened last night, Macy,’ said Rosen. ‘Just you.’
    â€˜I was on my way to the Mini Mart, on the high street. . .’ Tearswelled up in her swollen eyes. ‘I went to buy a card for the meter ’cause the electric’d run out.’
    Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. Rosen noticed the length and fine shape of her fingers – the hands of a pianist or a surgeon. But he guessed neither occupation would be an option for her.
    â€˜Macy.’ Rosen smiled. ‘OK with you if I record our chat?’
    The girl glanced down at Rosen’s feet, frowned and looked up.
    â€˜OK, Mr Rosen.’ Her expression was heavy. Rosen pressed ‘record’ on his phone. ‘I saw. . . the burning car. . . I saw two men running away.’ Her brown eyes locked onto Rosen’s. ‘It was like the fire in the car had only just started and they’d turned the corner off the square. I thought,
They’re baddies
. I seen them and they seen me. So then I started running, to the high street, off of Bannerman Square.’
    Rosen looked through the open door at the front elevation of Claude House. It was entirely possible that Stevie hadn’t seen anyone if the perpetrators had run off the square in the early moments of the fire.
    Macy took five shallow breaths through her nose and covered her lower face with her hand. Bellwood crouched to Macy’s eye level and she offered her a tissue.
    Macy took it and looked directly at Bellwood as she dabbed her face.
    â€˜My name’s Carol. I’m a policewoman. I got punched on the street by two men when I was a constable. It was horrible then. But I’m all right now.’
    â€˜Yeah?’
    Bellwood nodded. ‘Macy?’ She pressed gently. ‘You know you said you saw the two men running away from the burning car. Did you see them actually
at
the car?’
    Macy considered the question.
    â€˜One on, like, each side of the car. Yeah.’
    â€˜Did you see them set the car on fire?’ asked Bellwood.
    Rosen stood up and Bellwood sat directly in front of Macy.
    â€˜No. I didn’t see them set the car on fire. The car was burning. I ran away. They run after me.’ Macy blew her nose into the tissue and screwed it into a tight ball. ‘They caught me, and surrounded me and then. . .’
    â€˜Take your time,’ said Bellwood, leaning back in her seat to give Macy that extra crumb of physical space.
    â€˜It was dead rude.’ Macy’s voice dropped to a whisper and her eyes closed.
    Rosen felt his stomach turn, a mixture of horror and anger at what was about to come.
    â€˜He used a swear word. I don’t swear.’
    Rosen sighed inwardly with relief.
    â€˜In this instance, it’s OK to swear,’ said Bellwood, looking up at Macy’s mother.
    â€˜It’s OK,’ confirmed her mother. ‘Tell ’em what they said to you, Mace.’
    â€˜OK. He said, “Did you think you could out-run us,