Gina and Jacob sat opposite the young man. He must have been at least six foot tall and was hunched over, awkwardly playing with the frayed cotton T-shirt they’d given to him when he arrived.

‘Is she going to be all right?’ he asked. ‘I held her, there was nothing else I could do.’

‘You did all you could, Toby. She is being cared for at the hospital now. Can you please confirm your full name?’ Gina asked.

Jacob gripped the pen, ready to note down any details.

‘Toby Benjamin Biddle.’

‘Where were you going this morning?’ Gina watched as he picked his nail. His slightly greasy dark hair was starting to stick to his acne-scarred forehead. Although he’d washed since his initial examination by the station medical officer, she spotted a fleck of blood to the left of his ear. After speaking to Nick, the desk sergeant, she knew that he’d arrived in a state after trying to stem the blood that had been flowing from the girl’s abdomen.

‘I had this job to go to. An agency sent me to Rashers Meat Packing Plant on Cleevesford Industrial Estate. I was meant to be having an induction at seven thirty. I haven’t even managed to call them yet.’

‘We can do that for you.’ Gina knew they would be verifying that information anyway.

‘Thank you. Although, I doubt they’ll want me after not turning up. The only excuse these crap employers accept for not turning up is death.’ Toby thought about what he’d just said. ‘I’m so sorry. What an idiot, I shouldn’t have said that—’

Gina leaned forward. ‘Toby, it’s fine. You may have saved her life. Please tell me everything you can remember. Start from the beginning.’

‘I was just driving, enjoying the quietness of the roads. There’s not much in the way of traffic around when you take the scenic route early on a Saturday morning. I wasn’t looking forward to arriving at work, I mean, who would look forward to packing meat all day on a day like this?’ He wiped the sweat from his brow and took a sip of water. ‘All I remember is going around the bend on Laurel Lane and seeing a girl falling out of the back of a van. It happened so quickly, I don’t know what more I can add.’

‘Describe how she fell out of the van.’

He closed his eyes as if trying to recall what had happened. ‘From what I remember, it looked as if she had pushed the door open and was trying to slip out. No, it was more like she was leaning against the door and fell out, I think… oh, I don’t know. She wasn’t poised to jump. It happened too fast. Sorry, I don’t know. All I know is that I literally had to do an emergency stop. I thought I might have hit her but when I checked, I hadn’t.’

Gina glanced at her notes. One of the officers had noted that there had been no marks found on the front of Toby’s car that were consistent with hitting her. There had been dried mud over the bumper, the bonnet, and indeed most of the car. Not washing his car had shown him to be telling the truth. The dirt had remained undisturbed. She also spotted a further note about his car boot being full of old clothes in bags, and the back seat of his car had been littered with fast food containers mixed with shoes and old bags of books. There had been nothing to suggest the girl had been in his car and, given his collection of clutter, there would have been no room for her.

‘What happened then?’

‘I was scared. I think I felt sick but wasn’t sure what to do. I kept thinking, what if I’d run over her? What would I see? Was she going to be covered in blood on the road? I got out and walked around the front of the car. I hadn’t hit her, thankfully. She was just lying there, eyes slightly open. She was trying to say something but it just came out as a murmur.’

‘Could you make out anything she was trying to say?’ Gina hoped he’d remember something. The girl had been trying to tell him something.

‘It sounded like, “help her”.’

‘Did she say any more, like who she was referring to?’

‘No, she started fitting and passed out. The ambulance turned up and took her from there. She didn’t try to say anything else. I did notice she was bleeding from her side when I went around to help her. I pulled off my T-shirt and held it to the wound, hoping to stem the flow of blood. That’s when I called you guys. I really don’t have any more to add. Shit, I can’t believe this has happened.’ He leaned back on the plastic chair and rubbed his eyes. The emergency T-shirt they’d issued him with rode up, revealing his hairy stomach. It was far too short for his elongated torso.

‘Going back to the van. Can you describe it?’

‘The van. It was definitely white and it was Transit size. Quite a high roof. I saw some signwriting on the side as it drove away. I couldn’t make out what the text said but I could see that the letters were dark green.’

Gina knew that searching for all the owners of large white vans would be a lot of work. They were one of the most common work vehicles on the road. Green signwriting would narrow any suspects down a little bit.

‘Anything else about the van?’

‘No. I wish I saw more. At the same time I was trying to do an emergency stop and was panicking as I thought I might hit the girl.’

Gina looked up and smiled. ‘You’ve done really well. If you think of anything else later or even tomorrow, give me a call. We may need to speak to you again and we will be keeping your clothes, I’m afraid. Is there anything further you remember?’ She passed him a card. His clothing had already been bagged and sent to forensics for analysis.

‘No. I can’t think of anything. The copper who brought me in, they took my car. What do I do?’

Gina checked her notes. ‘We’ll explain that to you soon. We’ve found that you haven’t got a valid MOT certificate but, luckily for you, your insurance was still in date. Unfortunately this will be passed to the traffic department. This will be explained to you later.’ Gina thought about mentioning the dangers of driving a vehicle that wasn’t roadworthy but she could see that he’d been through enough for the day. If the poor girl lived, it would be down to him stopping and administering first aid at the scene. He’d potentially lost his job and he’d had to call his mother to pick him up as his car had been impounded. ‘DI Driscoll will keep you a little longer while he completes your witness statement. He’ll ask you to sign it, then you can go home. Your mother is in the waiting room.’

The young man exhaled and slumped over the table while he waited. Gina smiled and left the room. Detective Constable Harry O’Connor walked down the corridor. His shiny bald head reflected the strip light above. ‘Bakewell tart in the main office, courtesy of Mrs O,’ he said as he passed. Her stomach rumbled. She was definitely heading over to get a slice before it all went.

‘Before you settle, call Rashers Meat Packing Plant on Cleevesford Industrial Estate. Tell them that we have their most recent recruit here, which is why he didn’t turn up for work. Explain that he’s been helping us with our enquiries following an incident in the area, this morning. I hope the poor kid doesn’t get laid off before he’s even started.’

Harry put his thumbs up and continued.

Gina thought about what Toby had said. He described the girl as falling. Was she trying to stay in the van and had she been flung out as it sped around a bend? Was she trying to escape from her captor? She knew it would take a lot for someone to voluntarily jump out of a moving van, especially in her physical state. Had she seized her only opportunity to escape? Questions sped through her mind. She also thought that the van driver must have realised his back door was open and decided not to stop and close it. The van driver had now become their main suspect and she needed to find out who he was.