I Let You Go Read Online Free PDF

they were walking home, and chatting about the day, when she let go of Jacob’s hand and he ran across the road towards their house. From what she’s said it’s something he’s done before – he didn’t have good road sense and his mum always made sure she held on to him when they were near a road.’ Except this one time, he added silently. One tiny lapse of concentration, and she wouldn’t ever be able to forgive herself for it. Ray shuddered involuntarily.
    ‘What did she see of the car?’ Brian Walton asked.
    ‘Not a lot. She claims that, far from braking, the car was speeding up when it hit Jacob, and that she narrowly avoided being hit as well; in fact she fell and hurt herself. The attending officers noticed she had injuries, but she refused treatment. Phil, can you talk us through the scene?’
    The only uniformed officer in the room, Phil Crocker was a collision investigator, and with years of experience on the Roads Policing department he was Ray’s go-to man for all traffic matters.
    ‘There’s not much to say.’ Phil shrugged. ‘The wet weather means no tyre marks, so I can’t give you an estimate on speed, or tell you if the vehicle was braking prior to impact. We seized a piece of plastic casing about twenty metres from the point of collision, and the vehicle examiner has confirmed it’s from the fog light of a Volvo.’
    ‘That sounds encouraging,’ Ray said.
    ‘I’ve given the details to Stumpy,’ Phil said. ‘Other than that, I’m afraid I’ve got nothing.’
    ‘Thanks, Phil.’ Ray picked up his notes again. ‘Jacob’s post-mortem report shows he died from blunt force trauma. He had multiple fractures and a ruptured spleen.’ Ray had attended the autopsy himself, less because of the need for evidential continuity, and more because he couldn’t bear to think of Jacob alone in the cold mortuary. He had looked without seeing, keeping his eyes away from Jacob’s face, and focusing on the evidence the Home Office pathologist had issued in staccato sound bites. They were both glad when it was over.
    ‘Judging from the point of impact, we’re looking at a small vehicle, so we can rule out people-carriers or four-by-fours. The pathologist recovered fragments of glass from Jacob’s body, but I understand there’s nothing to tie it to a particular vehicle – isn’t that right, Phil?’ Ray glanced at the collision investigator, who nodded.
    ‘The glass itself isn’t vehicle-specific,’ Phil said. ‘If we had an offender they might have matching particles in their clothing – it’s almost impossible to get rid of. But we didn’t find any glass at the scene, which suggests the windscreen cracked on impact, but didn’t shatter. Find me the car, and we’ll match it to the pieces on the victim, but without that…’
    ‘But it does at least help to confirm what damage might be on the car,’ Ray said, trying to put a positive spin on the few lines of enquiry they did actually have. ‘Stumpy, why don’t you run through what’s been done so far?’
    The DS looked at the wall of Ray’s office, where the investigation played out in a series of maps, charts and flipchart sheets, each with a list of actions. ‘House-to-house was done on the night, and again the following day by shift. Several people heard what they’ve described as a “loud bang”, followed by a scream, but no one saw the car. We’ve had PCSOs out on the school run talking to parents, and we’ve letter-dropped in the streets either side of Enfield Avenue, appealing for witnesses. The roadside signs are still out, and Kate’s following up on the few calls we’ve had as a result of those.’
    ‘Anything useful?’
    Stumpy shook his head. ‘It’s not looking good, boss.’
    Ray ignored his pessimism. ‘When does the Crimewatch appeal go out?’
    ‘Tomorrow night. We’ve got a reconstruction of the accident, and they’ve put together some whizzy slides with what the car might look like, then they’ll