The Burning Read Online Free PDF Page B

girls.
    ‘I had this knife, see, in my boot. For protection. You can’t be too careful these days, my little brother said.’ She gave a laugh, high-pitched with nerves. ‘Well, this just goes to show, doesn’t it? I mean, if I hadn’t had it, who knows where I’d be? On a slab, maybe.’
    Maybe, maybe not. I was beginning to feel edgy. ‘Go back to before you took out the knife, Kelly. What did he say or do to make you sure that he was a killer?’
    ‘He stopped the car, and he said he’d let me out.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘And nothing. As soon as he stopped the car, I just knew.’
    I waited. The only sound in the room was Rob’s pen scratching across the paper. When it stopped, I said gently, ‘What did you know, Kelly?’
    ‘That he was a killer. That killer. You know, the burning one.’
    I made myself look blandly understanding. But my mind was blank apart from one word repeating monotonously, over and over again. Fuck … fuck … fuck …
    She finished off her story, telling us that she’d got to him before he could make a move on her, that he hadn’t seen her coming, finishing up with, ‘And I’ve been stuck in this room for two hours and I haven’t had a ciggie, so if you wouldn’t mind, can I go now?’
    ‘You’ll have to hang on for a little while,’ I said, trying to sound pleasant. ‘You’ll probably have to give another statement, I’m afraid. And the doctors haven’t signed you out yet.’
    She looked as if she was going to cry. ‘I just want to go home.’
    ‘I know.’ I stood up, suddenly uncomfortable. I couldn’t lie and say she’d be leaving soon; if I wasn’t much mistaken, she would be arrested before too long. From her account of events, there was an obvious charge of Section 18, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
    Kelly was rubbing her eyes, smearing moisture and the remains of her make-up across her pale cheeks. From behind her hands came, ‘I just want my mum.’
    I had got to the door and I yanked it open, pushing Rob out in front of me. ‘Thanks for your help, Kelly. We’ll be in touch.’
    The sound of sobbing was cut off by the door swinging shut. Annoyingly, it was the kind of door you couldn’t slam. I looked around for something to kick instead. Anything to vent my feelings.
    ‘What a lovely girl.’
    ‘Don’t be mean about her.’ I felt protective of poor, unlucky Kelly, even though I was furious with her as well.
    ‘Who’s being mean?’
    ‘You are and you know it.’
    ‘I just said she was lovely.’ Rob blinked at me innocently. ‘Not the kind of girl you want to make a move on without fair warning, but sweet all the same.’
    ‘Blackstaff was up to something naughty. What was he planning to do with her?’
    ‘We’ll never know. And what we do know doesn’t justify what she did to him, does it?’
    I had to admit he was right. ‘By her account, he didn’t do a thing. OK, he was a bit creepy – I’m sure she was right to be suspicious. Maybe he thought she was too drunk to know what she was doing and he could take advantage. But she completely overreacted. There isn’t a shred of evidence linking him to the other murders, not one concrete thing that would confirm her story that he’s the killer. And let’s be honest, her story isn’t going to stand up in court, is it?’
    ‘She might have been right. Maybe he got rid of the stuff before we got there.’
    ‘What, a container of petrol and at least one blunt instrument? The stun gun? There wasn’t any of that in the car, was there? Or around it. We’re screwed. Completely screwed.’
    ‘Yep. And you’re the one who’s going to have to tell Godley.’
    ‘Don’t think that hasn’t occurred to me.’ I looked at him. ‘You don’t give a stuff, do you? This is a total disaster and you’re just not bothered.’
    He shrugged. ‘Nothing we can do about it now. Bad luck for Mr Blackstaff. But we’re no worse off than we were before.’
    ‘Oh yeah, we’re doing great.