‘No.’ Spencer shook his head. Then, lowering his voice, he said, ‘Holly doesn’t need to hear this, but we recovered a knife from the scene.’
‘She was stabbed?’ Suzie’s eyes widened. ‘Christ, that’s awful. Did you catch him?’
‘Not yet. He legged it when he was disturbed, and the lads couldn’t give us much of a description because he was wearing a balaclava. But we will.’
‘I hope so.’ Suzie shuddered. ‘There’s enough weirdos round here without adding a knife-wielding maniac to the list.’
‘Well, now you know what we’re dealing with, I’m sure you’ll understand why we need to put safeguarding measures in place for Holly,’ Spencer said.
‘Yeah, but does it have to be tonight?’ Suzie asked. ‘She’s already traumatized, and sending her to spend the night with strangers will feel like a punishment. Josie wouldn’t want that, and neither do I, so please let me look after her. If you’re worried about my ex turning up, I’ll stay here.’
Spencer breathed in deeply and ran a hand through his dark hair. Then, sighing, he said, ‘All right, here’s what I’ll do. You told me you’re her aunt and Holly didn’t dispute it, so that’s what I’ll put in my report. But if her mum ends up being kept in for more than a couple of nights, it’ll be out of my hands.’
‘Thank you.’ Suzie touched his arm. ‘She’ll be safe with me. And if any awkward questions get asked, I’ll take the blame so you don’t get into trouble.’
‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,’ he muttered, sounding like he was already regretting his decision.
‘It won’t,’ Suzie said, mentally crossing her fingers. ‘But you’d best take my number, just in case.’
After saving her number into his phone, Spencer went back into the living room.
‘OK, Holly, we’re going to leave you with your aunt for tonight,’ he said. ‘I’ve got her number, so I’ll ring as soon as we’ve got any news about your mum. Try not to worry.’
‘She’ll be fine,’ Suzie said, putting her arm around Holly. ‘I’ll look after her.’
Spencer nodded and said goodbye, then he and his colleague saw themselves out.
‘What am I going to do?’ Holly whimpered. ‘What if she dies?’
‘That is not going to happen,’ Suzie said firmly, peering into her eyes. ‘She’ll be home soon, and you need to pull yourself together or you’ll be no use to her. I persuaded PC Spencer to let me stay with you tonight, but if social services get wind of it and come sniffing round, you need to show them that you’re mature enough to cope with this. Do you understand?’
‘Yeah,’ Holly whispered, wiping her nose on her hand.
‘Good girl,’ Suzie said, giving her a quick hug. ‘Now I need to nip home and get a few bits. Will you be all right here till I get back, or do you want to come with me?’
‘I’ll stay here.’
‘OK, I won’t be long.’
Holly forced a tiny smile, but it slid off her lips as soon as Suzie had gone, and she stared at the cushion where her mum had been sitting when they ate dinner earlier. The coppers hadn’t told her much, but she knew it had to be bad for them to tape the road off, and she felt guilty that she hadn’t followed her instincts and gone down there. It would have been too late to stop her mum from getting attacked, but at least she could have comforted her and gone in the ambulance with her. Now her mum was alone, and she couldn’t even go to see her. And if she died . . .
Fresh tears burned her eyes at the thought of never seeing her mum again, but she swiped them away at the sound of the doorbell ringing. Assuming it must be Suzie, she went out into the hall to let her in – and cursed herself for not checking first when she saw that it was actually Carol from the second floor. Too polite to close the door in the woman’s face, she pushed it to until there was an inch-wide crack and peered out at her.
‘Are you all right, love?’ Carol asked. ‘I saw the coppers and her from across the road leaving and wanted to check on you.’
‘I’m OK,’ Holly said.
‘Not being funny,’ Carol said conspiratorially, casting a quick glance back along the corridor, ‘but does your mam know you’re knocking about with that tart? Only I’m not sure I’d be happy if one of my kids got mixed up with her sort.’
‘She’s not a tart,’ Holly bristled.
‘What’s going on?’ Suzie asked.
‘Fuck’s sake!’ Carol yelped, spinning round to face her. ‘What you sneaking up on me for? You’re lucky I didn’t lamp you one.’
‘Is that right?’ Suzie gazed coolly back at her.
Carol narrowed her eyes and looked her up and down, clocking the pyjama pants beneath her coat, and the wine bottle sticking out of the carrier bag she was holding. Then, turning back to Holly, she said, ‘You seem like a nice girl and I’d hate to see you get led astray, so watch yourself, yeah?’
‘Suzie’s my friend,’ Holly shot back indignantly. ‘And you don’t even know me, so why’re you—’
‘It’s all right, I’ll deal with this,’ Suzie said, pushing Holly inside and pulling the door shut.
‘Oh, you think you can deal with me, do ya?’ Carol sneered, rolling her sleeves up as if preparing for a fight.
‘Why are you here?’ Suzie asked, maintaining her cool. ‘You can see she’s upset, so leave her alone.’
Carol’s lip curled into a sneer, and she said, ‘You proper think you’re special, but you don’t fool me, and I doubt them coppers’d be too happy if they knew what kind of woman was looking after her in there.’ She nodded at the door.
‘And what kind of woman would that be?’ Suzie raised an eyebrow.
‘A whore,’ Carol hissed, pushing her
