clump of hair away from her eyes, revealing a streak of mud on the side of her face. ‘We were walking quite slowly. I had stupid shoes on and I remember bickering with Katie about it, then I knocked her phone out of her hand. She’d been telling me creepy stories about ghosts. She freaked me out so I lost it. I accidentally smashed the screen on her phone. Sorry, Dad.’
‘Don’t worry about that, Tilly. We’ll deal with it later.’
‘Anyway, we ended up searching for the battery. It had come apart from the phone. That’s when I saw the bell and the string hanging from a branch.’ The girl paused and wiped her left eye, which was going a little red from rubbing it too much.
‘And after that?’
‘We saw the outline of a person just back of the clearing. They came, walked around for a few minutes, then left. That’s when we called you.’ The girl yawned again, this time more vocally.
This was the bit Gina was interested in more than anything. ‘You’re doing really well. I know you’re tired but this is really helping. Can you tell me anything at all about the person you saw? Height? Did it look like a man or a woman? Larger or thinner in build?’
‘We couldn’t see. We just stayed hidden, holding our breath. It was dark and I didn’t want to flash my phone and show whoever was lurking about where we were, not after just finding the hand in the box. We then began to think there really was a murderer so we sat together, holding hands, in silence. I’ve never been so scared, Dad.’
The man placed an arm around his daughter. ‘You’re doing really well, my love.’
‘You are. This is really helping us, Tilly.’ Gina smiled a little, just enough to try and put Tilly at ease a little. ‘You’re safe now.’
She wiped her nose on her arm. ‘The only thing I saw is their eyes as the clouds moved and the moon lit up the clearing. Whoever it was seemed to be looking at me. I remember toppling a little as we stooped and my dress was getting tangled around my waist. My legs started to burn and shake, then I slipped, making a noise. Then the creepy person ran away.’ Tilly paused and stared open-mouthed at the grain in the table.
‘What is it, Tilly?’
‘It looked like they were wearing a long black coat with a hood. I could see an outline of the person’s legs under as they lifted it to stop it brushing in the mud. That’s all I remember. Maybe they were wearing cycle bottoms or leggings, either way, they were wearing something tight.’ She shrugged. ‘We were just so glad to get out of those woods. I want to go home, Dad…’ The girl began poking her finger through a hole in her dress, tearing a bigger hole in it.
Gina glanced over at O’Connor. ‘Tilly, what you’ve told us has been so helpful. And thank you for staying here to talk to us again. Just as a precaution, I’d like you to pop to the hospital. I know you say that you didn’t touch the blood on the string, but I wouldn’t be doing my job or looking after you properly if we didn’t get you checked out. I know it all sounds scary but it doesn’t take a moment.’
The girl’s bottom lip began to quiver. She buried her head into her father’s chest and sobbed. ‘They’ll make me have an injection, won’t they?’
‘But she didn’t touch the blood,’ Mr Holden said. ‘Does she need to go through this?’
‘Tilly, I’m definitely not saying you have anything. This is just a precaution and I’m sure you’ll be fine. We’d also like someone to tend to the cut on your finger. It looks sore. We need to make sure it doesn’t get infected.’ Gina paused and glanced at O’Connor’s notes. ‘Tilly, will you be okay sitting in the waiting room with DC O’Connor? You can call him Harry by the way.’
O’Connor placed his chewed pen on the table, stood and smiled. ‘I think Katie will be there too. Maybe she can go with you for support, if you’d like that.’
Tilly nodded.
‘Is that okay, Mr Holden?’
‘What?’
‘If Tilly goes with DC O’Connor so that we can talk for a moment?’
The man nodded. ‘Yes, of course.’
After Tilly left with O’Connor to meet up with her friend, Gina leaned in. ‘I know it sounds like we’re going over the top but