‘Great,’ Gina muttered as she fought to open the jammed window in her office. It was over twenty degrees already and the room felt like a sauna. She slammed her palms into the glass. Another maintenance job to report.

At least the incident room was dry. Spring had been difficult with the mould and mildew spreading up the damp wall, leaving a nasty smell throughout the room and along the corridors. That problem still hadn’t been attended to even though she’d reported it on numerous occasions, but the emergence of summer had disguised it, for now. She pushed at the window, but it was still going nowhere. Giving up, she snatched her paperwork and headed along the short corridor, into the main office.

As she grabbed a slice of Bakewell tart, she sat on the desk and placed her paperwork down before devouring what was a late breakfast.

‘You’re coming to the pub tonight, aren’t you, guv?’ Detective Constable Paula Wyre called.

‘Pub?’

‘Nag’s Head, after work. A few of us are going. I did mention my birthday earlier in the week. Thought I’d buy you all a drink instead of bringing cake. Cake would be wasted on this place. Tesco can’t compete with Mrs O.’

‘Oh gosh, yes. Of course I’ll be there,’ she said.

She began speaking to the team between bites. ‘Jacob and I have just this minute finished interviewing a young man called Toby Biddle in relation to this morning’s call. As we know, a young woman tumbled out of a van around seven thirty this morning and she is now in a critical state and in Cleevesford Hospital.’ Jacob nodded and took a slice of cake as he listened. He held the plate towards Wyre who shook her head. That woman’s willpower was enviable, Gina thought. As always, her perfectly fitted, black trouser suit complemented the poker straight black fringe she’d recently adorned. ‘After speaking to Doctor Nowak at the hospital this morning, we’ve since found out that she may not make it. There is evidence of heavy drug use, track marks on her groin and arms. Her organs were in a failing state. She was also admitted with a bleeding abdomen. To be frank, we’ve seen some sights and wondered how people survive, well, times that by five and you have this girl. She looked so thin, I have no idea how she managed to stand. Is PC Smith back as yet?’

Smith took his hat off as he entered. ‘Got relieved from sentry duty about an hour and half ago. I’m not up to much, I have a list of visits to make and minor incidents to attend to.’

Gina held out her hand, gesturing for him to sit in the empty chair beside Wyre. ‘We won’t keep you long. Any updates, Wyre?’

‘I just checked with the hospital again. She has been placed on a ventilator so won’t be good for any talking. Forensics turned up and took samples with Doctor Nowak present.’

‘Great, they’ll probably already be heading to the lab.’ She continued addressing the room. ‘The biggest complication we have at the moment is that we can’t identify our victim. We have taken a DNA sample in the hope that her DNA may be on our database. If it isn’t, we start with the basics. Research runaways, people reported missing, you know the drill.’ She glanced at her phone to see if she’d received a missed call from Bernard, wanting to catch up on his preliminary findings at the hospital. She hadn’t missed a thing. It was way past lunchtime and a call was imminent.

‘What did the interview with Toby Biddle give us?’ Wyre asked as she turned over a new page in her pad.

‘Keith confirmed that Biddle’s car had not touched the girl. She hadn’t landed on it nor had she been hit by it. His car was so full of his own rubbish she can’t have come from it either. Biddle stated that she fell from a white van as he went round a corner on Laurel Lane. The way he described the incident, I’d say one of the back doors was open, she lost her balance and flew out of the door, falling onto the ground. We don’t know for definite whether she jumped on purpose to escape the van or she accidentally slipped out. We need to know how she got in the van, what she was doing in the van and why she was so emaciated. We need the van driver found. It was described as a white Transit size van with dark green signwriting.’

‘What did the sign say?’ O’Connor asked as he leaned back in his chair, chewing the cake in his mouth. Gina looked at the last bit of cake between her fingers and placed it on the table. The sound of O’Connor’s chewing had ruined any enjoyment of the sugary treat. Of all the things that could have ruined her eating experience – it could have been the way the girl had looked, the thoughts that were running through Gina’s mind on what the girl may have been through, or the look on her daughter’s face when she passed Gracie over to her that morning, but no, it was O’Connor’s mastication that had ruined her enjoyment of the Bakewell tart.

‘Toby Biddle couldn’t read any of the words on the van. I don’t think he had the chance while he was performing an emergency stop. Everything happened too fast for him. He said the lettering was dark green. Unfortunately that’s all we have to go on at the moment.’

‘So, a large white van with dark green signwriting.’ O’Connor wrote a few notes down. ‘Shall I look into this, start to at least form a list of vans like this in the area?’

‘Yes, please,’ Gina replied.

‘Toby said he thought he heard her saying, “help her”, suggesting that there is another girl somewhere. This is a worry and it’s why we need to get on to this with all we have.’

‘Guv, I have to get going,’ Smith said as he stood.

‘Sorry. I know you’re really busy and I didn’t mean to hold you up. I want you to keep your eyes and ears open. The girl in the hospital is a very serious user and covered in syringe marks. She or her captor was getting the stuff from somewhere. It’s important that we work closely with uniform on this one and I’d like you to report back to me on anything that might be relevant because, as yet, we haven’t even identified her.’

‘I will, guv. Catch you later.’ He grabbed his hat and hurried away.

She spotted Briggs watching from the back of the room. He must have entered while she was speaking.

DCI Chris Briggs had kept a friendly distance since their break up. Remaining on good terms had started off easy, but an awkwardness had developed between them lately, or maybe it was just her. Being around him still led her mind back to their brief but passionate relationship.

Gina cleared her throat. ‘We need to put out a press statement for anyone who saw a large white van with dark green signwriting travelling along Laurel Lane this morning. The incident occurred between seven fifteen and seven thirty.’

Briggs placed a hand on the door frame. ‘I’ll liaise with Annie in Corporate Communications to get that done ASAP. For this case, Harte, you’ll be Senior Investigating Officer but make sure you report to me daily with progress reports. I want to know what’s happening and when, and I’ll also deal with the media. Keep me updated.’

‘Will do, sir,’ she replied. SIO again, she was relishing the thought. The pressure was immense but, once again, being in control of the investigation and the path it took, along with controlling the budgets, was everything she’d worked so hard for over the years. She smiled at him and he returned her smile. The other detectives began to speak to one another, comparing notes and talking about what happens next. Briggs turned and left the room, leaving her there with her thoughts.

Smith darted in, car keys in hand, ready to dash out. ‘Is this cake for anyone? I’m starving.’

Gina nodded. ‘Of course.’

‘Great.’ Crumbs flew from his mouth as he continued to speak and eat. ‘Right, I’m off to Cleevesford Chippy.’

Gina scooped her paperwork up and stood. ‘I don’t know! Cake followed by fish and chips at lunchtime, and a pastry for breakfast. Sounds like a recipe for diabetes.’

‘I’m not pigging out, guv.’

‘It wouldn’t be any of my business though and I’m a fine one to talk. I live on takeaways at the moment. Ignore me, I’m pulling your leg, Smith.’

He gave her a knowing look and let out a little laugh. ‘I was actually responding to a call. Apparently, the owner and staff have seen what they believe to be drug deals going on in the bus stop opposite the chippy. We’ll be keeping our eye on that.’

‘Sounds like you have a lot on.’

‘It makes the day go fast. See you later.’

‘Remember, keep me updated,’ she called, but he’d already left the room.

Gina’s phone began to buzz in her pocket. She snatched it and placed it against her ear while Keith spoke. She hoped forensics had come up with something. When he finished she ended the call. The room went silent as everyone stopped what they were doing, to hear what Gina was bursting to say. ‘You won’t believe what Keith has discovered on the girl. Bernard is sending the reports through. We need to find the van driver and bring him in, now.’