The maisonette on the main road of Kings Heath stood back, behind a clump of unruly trees. After spending several minutes struggling to find a space to park in, Jacob and Gina settled for a space five minutes down the road. The heat hit like a wall and the petrol fumes from the rush hour traffic was nauseatingly thick. The smell of weed filled the air, a smell Gina was coming across more often over the past couple of years.

Belinda Holden eventually opened the door. Her sunken eyes and slight frame almost shook Gina to the core. She had no idea how the woman was still alive. Her wrists can’t have been thicker than a tube of toothpaste. Belinda wobbled as she stood aside, staring into space through glassy eyes. Gina could see she’d given up a long time ago. She glanced back at Jacob as they stepped into the stuffy hallway, so dark their eyes had to adjust. She wished she hadn’t seen the masses of cobwebs, the piles of clothes and empty takeaway wrappers that filled the hallway. That was where the stench was coming from. A large bug fled behind an old wooden unit as they entered the living room.

‘Why are you here?’ the woman mumbled.

‘Please sit down, Miss Holden. I’m DI Harte, this is DS Driscoll. Can my colleague get you a glass of water?’

The woman went to sit and almost missed the edge of the old torn settee. After recovering her position, she shuffled back until she was safely seated. Greasy strands of dirty blonde hair stuck to her lips and mingled with the sweat on her face. Gina watched as the woman tried to wipe them away but missed each time. She could see why Erin had left. ‘I don’t need water. I need to know why the police are here bothering me. I haven’t done anything. You lot are always on my case.’

Gina had taken a quick look at Belinda Holden’s record. She’d been arrested on numerous occasions for soliciting, drug use and anti-social behaviour. The last she read was that Belinda was meant to be on a programme for users to get clean.

‘We are here about Erin, Miss Holden.’ Gina sat on a chair opposite. Jacob remained standing beside the door frame.

‘Erin? She left. I often wonder about her.’

Wonder about her! Is that all Miss Holden did? Her sixteen-year-old daughter had run away from home and this woman was doing nothing to find her. She thought back to all that Mrs Dawson was doing with the posters and asking people on the streets. Gina was aware that people had their issues, but they were talking about her daughter, her flesh and blood. She bit her lip. ‘I’m really sorry, Miss Holden. You may have read that a girl had been found in Cleevesford and had been taken to hospital after falling from a van. It’s been on the local news. We don’t as yet know what happened to her but she was in a bad way and has subsequently passed away. Our tests have come back and we’ve identified the girl to be Erin. I really am sorry.’

The woman stared blankly at the curtain-covered window and wiped her eyes. ‘You mean Erin’s dead?’

‘I’m sorry. Can we get you a drink?’

The woman shook her head and pulled a half bottle of vodka from under a cushion. Unscrewing the cap, she took a long swig. ‘I’m never going to see her again, am I?’

‘Is there anyone we can call? Do you have any family?’

‘I don’t want any of them.’ The woman took another swig.

‘Can you tell us about when Erin left? You reported her missing last November.’

‘And what did you do? Stuff all. People like me, like us, don’t matter. Just piss off out of my home.’ The woman grabbed the cushion and threw it to the floor.

‘It’s important that you tell us if you know anything. We need to catch the person who did this to Erin. Can you tell me how things were when she left?’

The woman took another swig of alcohol. ‘Are you going now?’

‘Can we offer you any support?’

‘I’ve got all the support I need,’ she said as she held the bottle up. Her sleeve slipped. Gina caught site of all the open sores and track marks on the woman’s scrawny arm. Poor Erin had no chance in life. She swallowed, choking back her emotions. Maybe the system had let them down somewhere along the line. How Erin had been left in a hovel like this made her want to punch something.

There was a knock at the front door. The woman dragged herself up and staggered along the hallway. A man wearing glasses followed her in. ‘Belinda?’ he said. Gina leaned forward to get a closer look.

Belinda grabbed his arm and led him into the kitchen. ‘Just wait a minute. You here for a good time?’ She thought that Gina and Jacob couldn’t hear from the living room. Her skin began to crawl. Had Erin seen all this going on?

‘A friend?’ Gina asked as Belinda re-entered.

‘Yeah. What of it? We’re good friends. I want you to both leave now so I can grieve. Get out.’ Belinda held out a shaky finger and pointed towards the front door.

‘If you remember anything when we’ve left, give me a call. If you need any support, I can put you in touch with the right places. You can get help. We’ll be in touch when your daughter’s remains are released.’ Gina placed her card into the woman’s hand.

‘Goodbye.’ Belinda screwed up the card and opened the door, watching as they made their way down the path before slamming the door. Gina wondered if the woman would arrange a funeral for her daughter or even attend if one was arranged for her.

‘It’s no wonder some kids run away. Imagine having to live like that?’ Jacob said as they took the long walk back to the car.

Gina kicked a lamp post and flinched.

‘You okay, guv.’

‘No, I’m not. Erin didn’t stand a chance in life.’ Traffic zoomed past, horns beeped as drivers took liberties, not waiting their turn. This wasn’t one of her favourite places to be in rush hour and today wasn’t one of her best either. ‘I wonder if she was on drugs when she left the household or if she started using when she began life on the streets. I somehow think we’re not going to get any more from Miss Holden. I don’t think she’s capable of giving us anything further. On another note, I called Christina’s friend. The one Mrs Dawson told us about. Her family are back from their camping trip late tonight. I’ll call her parents later, see if they can come in first thing to speak to us. I know we have found Westley Young but you never know, she may be able to give us a bit more of an insight into Christina’s life.’

Gina’s heart rate picked up. Dare she hope that Christina would turn up safe and sound? They’d identified their two dead girls and neither were Christina. Her mind wandered back to the Norths. Mrs Dawson mentioned a couple, a well-turned-out couple. She needed to get home and get the laptop on, check out the updates.