Written In Blood

Chapter Eight

"I can vouch for that," Nigel spoke up from by the door. "It was around half-one when Kelly got home. I remember because I was up, waiting for her. I was worried when she wasn't back on the last bus, and spent hours wondering when she was going to get home, and how."

"I'm never on the last bus, you should know that by now; I'd have to be home before ten if I was." The look on Kelly's face revealed what she thought of that. "Nothing happens before ten, nothing worth doing anyway. I did the same as I always do, I got a lift home."

"And I hate to think who from. I can just imagine the kind of person who'd come so far out of their way to bring a teen girl home – nobody does that without being after something."

Kelly laughed again. "Most of the time it's Ollie who brings us home, and he's already getting what he wants."

"Ollie, Oliver Ryder?" Nigel moved quickly round so he could see his daughter's face. "You're telling me you've been hanging around with Oliver Ryder, even though I've told you to stay away from him, and his friends?"

Mitchell spoke up quickly to head off the argument he could see brewing. "This is something the two of you can talk about later, once we're finished. Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Georgina?" he asked of Kelly. "Someone with a grudge against her perhaps."

"Are you kidding, who'd want to hurt her? Georgie's a goody two-shoes pain in the ass that most of us want nothing to do with, but I can't think of anyone who'd hurt her. Even if someone did want to hurt her, who'd be crazy enough to do anything, we all know she's Ollie's cousin, and Ollie's crazy about her, and will do anything for her. If anyone did dare do anything to Georgie, they'd have to deal with Ollie, and we all know how that would go." The bored expression she had affected dropped away and she turned her attention from the TV to the sergeant. "Something's happened to her, hasn't it."

Mitchell hesitated for a moment, reluctant to say anything. He realised there was no point in keeping what had happened from her, though, not when she would hear about it soon enough. "Yes," he said with a quick nod of his head. "This may not be easy for you to hear, but first thing this morning, the body of a girl was found in the village, we believe it's Georgina."

"Bloody hell!" Kelly swore, her face pale with shock.

Nigel went even whiter than his daughter. "Wh-what happened to her?" he asked in a voice that shook.

"Get a grip, dad, Jesus!" Kelly told him. Once over her initial shock, the colour returned to her cheeks, and she showed enough animation to ask, "How did she die? Was she killed? I bet she was killed, that's why you want to know if anyone would hurt her."

"Don't be morbid," Nigel told his daughter, even though he had only just expressed his own interest.

The look Kelly threw her father's way showed she knew how hypocritical he was being. She said nothing to him, though, instead she turned her attention back to Mitchell. "Come on, what happened to Georgie? I'm right, aren't I, she was killed. How? When? Who by?"

"Behave," Nigel told his daughter, with more sharpness than either Mitchell or Melissa had ever heard him use before. "Whatever's happened to Georgina, you should show some respect, not act like it's something exciting to tell your friends about; she's a friend of yours as well."

"No she's not," Kelly denied quickly. "We used to be friends, ages ago, but we haven't been friends since Mayfield's. I'm sorry she's dead, but I'm not gonna pretend to be sad when I'm not, and I'm not gonna pretend not to be curious about what happened when I am. So, come on, what happened to her? Was she killed?"

As distasteful as he found the teen's morbid curiosity, Mitchell couldn't help admiring her honesty. He nodded. "Yes, she was killed. Are you certain you can't think of anyone who'd want to hurt her?"