The Girl in the Rug Read Online Free PDF Page B

his sister, of whom he was fiercely
protective, but he had shied away from any help that Maya had tried to offer,
becoming even less communicative if that was possible. He reminded Maya of
herself as a young girl in Poland…before Nonna had rescued her, and if those
children were going through anything like she had…then they needed help.
    ‘So I said to him why not wear the pink wig and the sequined
jacket…’ Helen was saying loudly to her.
    ‘What?’ said Maya confused, ‘sorry Helen I must have been
miles away.’
    ‘Obviously,’ Helen laughed, ‘you were looking really serious
love…what’s up?’
    ‘Oh, just a boy in my class…he worries me that’s all,’ said
Maya, brushing her thought aside. ‘I will speak again to social services, see
if they can keep an eye on him…I am probably just being over cautious…now what
was that about a pink wig?’

CHAPTER 7 - CARLA
    Carla watched the CCTV footage from the camera located just
inside the door of Mr Patel’s shop. She saw the two children come into the
shop, the boy…um Andy, holding out some change to Amish Patel and being
directed by him round to where the baked goods were stored, she just caught
their happy little faces as they ran eagerly round to pick out their treats
before the two masked men wandered into the shop.
    There had been no urgency about them, as with the earlier
robberies these two had been as calm as you like, threatening with the gun and
waiting as the bags are filled. The shorter of the two…who Carla was convinced
was a nasty piece of work known locally as ‘Turk’, always got a few kicks in no
matter how obedient the poor shopkeeper was and the other one, who was
obviously the brains behind the raids, seemed to let him have his way for a few
moments before stopping him and getting on with the job in hand. This robbery
was no different apart from the fact that this was the first time a man had
died. From her camera’s eye view Carla couldn’t see why Amish Patel had been
shot…she could only assume that his murderer had spotted that he had raised the
alarm. She had, however, been able to see the children when they had finally
emerged from behind the bread baskets and was now staring hard at a stilled
image of them, trying to wrack her brains to see if she recognised them.
    Mandy (DC Hopkins) was doing the same, ‘Actually the boy
definitely looks familiar, I think I might have seen him at the school.’
Mandy’s daughter was at Riddlestone Juniors. ‘Poor little mites they look
scared out of their wits.’
    ‘Ha!’ retorted Carla, ‘not so scared that they didn’t know
how to outwit my sergeant and half of uniform. Bloody hell I don’t have time
for this, who else has got kids at Riddlestone?’
    ‘Um…can’t think…oh I know Martin Wier, Constable Wier, his
son might be in the same class, he’s about 8 or 9 I think,’ said Mandy.
    ‘Well get him up here can you Mandy and get him to take a
look, that’ll save me having to take this picture to the school if he
recognises them.’
    Just then WPC Irene Watkins popped her head round the door.
‘We’ve got Mrs Patel waiting downstairs for you Ma’am,’ she said. Carla was
taking Mrs Patel to the mortuary to formally identify her husband, the elderly
lady had been distraught last night when she had arrived back to discover her
husband dead and her shop ransacked.
    ‘Ok Constable…be with you in a minute,’ said Carla still
looking at the image on the screen.
    Constable Watkins came into the room and stared over her
shoulder, ‘Aren’t those the Hunt children?’ she said squinting at the screen.
‘Poor little things, who let them go out like that, I mean it was freezing last
night wasn’t it…doesn’t look like Lucy’s got anything on her legs, that bloody
woman should be shot.’
    Carla turned round quickly, ‘Are you saying you know these
kids?’ she asked in surprise.
    ‘God yes…they go to the same school as my kids, I’m on the
board of