What She Saw by Mark Roberts Page B

little. . .
bitch
.”’ She mouthed the last word, and looked completely uncomfortable. ‘One of them grabbed my hands and took the tenner and. . . then. . . one of them . . . I just felt his fist going
bam bam bam
in my face and then there were flashing lights in my head and then it was like they were in a real big hurry to get away and they were, like, angry with me because I’d seen them and they were trying to scare me into saying nothing.’
    The mother caught Rosen’s eye. ‘I didn’t want to send her out at that hour. I had a migraine. She wanted to go.’
    â€˜I didn’t mind going,’ said Macy. ‘You were really sick, Mum, in bed with your head banging.’
    â€˜What did they look like?’ Bellwood steered the interview back.
    â€˜I didn’t see their faces. Their hoods were all pulled up. Hiding their faces, like.’
    â€˜Sure they were both men?’
    â€˜They moved like men. The one who spoke was a man.’ She considered briefly but with concentration. ‘Both were men.’
    â€˜What about their clothes? Any distinguishing marks?’
    â€˜You mean like a logo?’
    â€˜Yeah?’
    â€˜They were all plain, plain tops, tracksuit bottoms, dark trainers. I went sick when they robbed the money. Sorry, Mum.’
    â€˜It’s not your fault, Mace, I’ve told you.’
    â€˜What happened when they ran off?’ asked Bellwood. Macy looked puzzled. ‘What did you do when they ran off?’ she clarified.
    â€˜I stayed on the ground, listening as they ran away. When I couldn’t hear them any more, I got up. My lip was bleeding a lot. I could taste blood in my mouth. My head was banging with pain. I thought I was going to faint. But I stood up anyway. I was crying me eyes out. But there was nobody about.’ Macy suddenly dropped her head and sobbed loudly into the flats of her hands.
    â€˜Macy, you’re a really brave girl,’ encouraged Bellwood.
    Over the space of a minute, Macy’s tears subsided. Then she leaned forward and raised the hem of her long, black trousers up to the knee to reveal a saucer-sized bruise on her shin. She looked up and caught Rosen’s eye.
    â€˜How did that happen, Macy?’ asked Rosen.
    She dropped her trouser leg. ‘I banged my leg on the kerb as I fell. It’s very sore but the doctor took an x-ray and said it’s not broken, which is lucky, I guess.’
    â€˜What did the men sound like?’ Bellwood probed.
    â€˜Only one of them spoke. He had an accent. Just before he ran away he said something about “coming back” and “burning me alive”. He sounded like maybe he was from, say, Ireland.’
    Macy’s eyes were alert and intelligent.
    â€˜Macy,’ said Rosen. ‘Did they smell of anything?’
    â€˜What like?’
    â€˜Beer? Cigarettes? Aftershave?’ Rosen shrugged. ‘Anything?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ she replied. ‘Yeah, they did. But not the things you just said.’
    â€˜What did they smell of?’
    â€˜Petrol. You know that smell when you go past a garage, that petrol-pump smell. They smelled of that.’ Macy looked at Rosen. ‘Want to see a drawing of them?’
    A bolt of energy screamed through him. ‘Yes please, Macy.’
    The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of white paper. She handed the paper to Rosen and he unfolded it to reveal a child-like cartoon of two hoodies, roughly drawn and crudely shaded with an HB pencil. Where the faces should have been, there was darker, deepening shadow, but no facial details.
    â€˜Good thinking, Macy. They
both
smelt of petrol?’
    Macy’s face scrunched up tight as she silently explored her memory.
    â€˜Both smelt of petrol, the truth?’ said Macy.
    Rosen nodded.
    â€˜It’s a strong smell, petrol. I know definitely one of them did.’
    â€˜Which one, Macy?’
    â€˜The one who hit