Melissa was asleep, having been sent home to try and catch up on some of the rest that grief and circumstances had denied her during the night, when her phone rang, vibrating noisily on the bedside cabinet. She woke with a start, her hand groping for the phone before she even really knew what it was that had disturbed her.

"Hello," she croaked once she had the phone to her ear. She remained where she was, with her face half-buried in the pillow, hoping that the phone call would be a quick one so she could go back to sleep – she could not remember when she had ever felt as tired as she did then.

"Mel, it's Paul," Pritchard identified himself. "You're needed at the station."

"What for?" Melissa asked, hoping that she sounded more with it than she felt. With the greatest of reluctance, she pushed herself up and into a position on the edge of the bed; looking down at herself, she saw that she was still dressed in her uniform. She must have been really tired, she thought, if she had gone straight to bed without getting undressed.

"The case has been handed over to a detective inspector, he's here now, and he wants to see you," Pritchard told her.

Blinking, Melissa sought out the radio alarm clock so she could see what the time was. It surprised her to see that it was not quite half past ten; she had thought that it would take longer than four hours for Stevens to explain everything to the chief inspector and convince him to give them a detective – she hadn't expected them to get a detective inspector – let alone for one to be found who could be spared, and for that detective to get to the village. The journey to the village from town would have taken an hour, which meant it had taken less than two and a half hours to get things organised, much quicker than she would have expected.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Melissa hung up before her fellow constable could say anything more. She didn't really want to go anywhere but back to sleep, for about twelve hours if she could manage it, but she could hardly ignore a summons from a detective inspector, especially when she was the reason for him being there, so she tiredly got to her feet.

A little over half an hour after being woken, Melissa walked through the door into the station.

"Where's the DI?" she asked as she screwed up the wrapper from the chocolate bar she had eaten on the way there and threw it in the bin. The chocolate had given her a bit of energy, but she still felt as though she needed about a gallon of coffee if she was going to make it through what remained of the morning, let alone the rest of the day.

"He's in Mitchell's office," Pritchard said. "He's been waiting for you."

"Thanks. What's he like?" Melissa asked. It was because of her that the inspector was there, but she couldn't help feeling a significant amount of nerves, which slowed her pace to a crawl as he headed down the passage.

Pritchard shrugged. "He seems alright. I've barely met him, though; he's been in the office practically since he got here," he said. "He's spoken to the inspector and to Mitchell, and he's been reading the case file; mostly, though, I think he's been waiting for you. Asking for you was just about the first thing he did after speaking to the inspector."

Melissa nerves didn't diminish with that news, if anything it made them worse. "I guess I'd better go see what he wants," she said, pleased to note that her voice didn't betray what she was feeling.

"Come in," an unfamiliar voice called out from behind the closed door of Sergeant Mitchell's office when she knocked.

Melissa stopped the moment she was through the door. "Constable Turner, reporting as ordered, sir," she told the man seated behind her superior's desk. He appeared nice enough, as Pritchard had said, but she was beginning to appreciate just how deceptive appearances could be; someone she knew was a murderer, and a brutal one, yet there was nothing about any of them that made it easy to pick him out.

"Good morning, constable, I'm Detective Inspector Harrison, I'm now in charge of the investigation into the murders you've had here in Oakhurst," he said, rising to his feet so he could make his way around the desk and shake hands with Melissa, that done he gestured her to the visitor's chair.

Melissa studied the DI as he first approached her and then returned to the other side of the desk; he was a fair bit taller than her at just about dead on six feet in height and slender, almost skinny, with close-cropped brown hair, hazel eyes and the remains of a tan. None of what she saw, including the dark, casual-smart suit he wore, told her what she really wanted to know, namely whether he was a good detective who would solve the murders and deal with the question of whether Sergeant Mitchell was in any way connected with or guilty of the attempts on Zack's life.

"I understand from your Inspector Stevens that you're responsible for this," Harrison held up the wad of papers Stevens had given him. "Is that true?"

Melissa nodded nervously. There was no point in her denying authorship of the file when he clearly knew that she had written it. "Yes, sir."

DI Harrison smiled briefly. "It's very detailed, more so than the official file," he remarked. "How accurate is it?"

Melissa opened her mouth to protest the suggestion that what she had written might be wrong, but quickly shut her mouth on what she had been about to say. "As accurate as I could make it, sir," she answered. "I've probably missed a few things out, or not put in all of the details of something, but for the most part it's everything that's happened since Georgina went missing."

"Good, I'd hate to have to start this investigation from scratch after a week and a half, that would just be awkward," Harrison said with a second smile that disappeared as quickly as the first. "Now, on the basis of this," he held the report again. "I have requested that your inspector assign you to me to help with my investigation – I could get more help from my own station, but I'd rather use you, you know the case and the people involved, which will help – and he has agreed on the condition that you also agree to the assignment, he seemed to think you might have reasons for declining."

"Yeah." She definitely had reasons, Melissa thought. "I'm related to one of the – one of the victims," she said. "Daisy Hawkins is my cousin. Not only that, but I'm a witness to Sergeant Mitchell's attack on Mr Wild. Either one of those things would keep me from being involved with the case."

"Ordinarily, yes, but I've discussed the situation with your inspector, and he agrees with me that if you're okay with assisting me to investigate your cousin's death, there shouldn't be any problem with it," Harrison told her. "As for the assault on Mr Wild by your Sergeant Mitchell – I will be investigating it and your other allegation against the sergeant, just not yet, the murders are my priority. Once that case has been resolved, I'll look into the rest of it, though, truth be told, I don't think it will take long to deal with your allegations."

Melissa was relieved to hear that she was being taken seriously, even if it was going to take a while for anything to come of what she had reported. "As long as you're sure there won't be any complications with me being involved, sir, I'll help you." It was tempting for her to use the excuse she had available and leave the investigation into the murders that had rocked her village to other people; that would leave her unaware of how the investigation was proceeding, however, and she preferred to know.

"I'm pleased to hear that. Our first stop," Harrison sat up a little straighter in his chair and flipped open the covers on the files that detailed Georgina's disappearance, and the murders that had been discovered in the village, "Is to get the post-mortem report on your cousin; I've phoned the morgue, and it should be ready by the time we get to town. I know that the murders of Georgina Ryder and Lucy Goulding have been linked through the preliminary tests that have been run, now we need to be certain that your cousin's murder is linked to the other two – if it is, we'll know that the attack on Emily Wright is also linked. I realise you're already pretty certain they're all connected," he said when he saw that the constable who would be partnering him was about to say something, "but we need to be certain of that."

Melissa closed her mouth and thought about that. It only took her a moment to realise that he was right, as confident as she was that the murders were connected, there was a chance that she was wrong; she didn't want to stay fixed on an idea that might not be right, not when that was exactly what had prompted her to go to Inspector Stevens about Sergeant Mitchell. Her thinking continued along that line until it made her say, "We should also check the phone records to make certain, if we can, that the phone call that came into the station on Sunday evening was from Georgina's phone; I've spoken to the other kids in the village, and they all agree that the number is the one Georgina used..."

"But if we can get it confirmed by the phone company it will help our case," Harrison finished.

"Sir, can I ask..." Melissa hesitated for a moment, but then went on with her question. "Do you think Mr Wild is the killer?"

Harrison didn't answer straight away, instead he allowed himself a brief period in which to consider the question. Finally, he said, "Based on what we have right now, I'd have to say it's unlikely. With the exception of Mr Wild's blood-type, which isn't rare enough to be conclusive, all of the evidence against him is circumstantial; not only that, but the same witness reported last sightings of two of the girls in the company of Mr Wild. That could be coincidental, and is certainly more likely out here than it would be in town, but I find it suspicious, especially when that witness is someone you've identified as a possible suspect." He frowned. "This would be easier if I had been brought in right at the start; at this point the water's been muddied a little too much for my liking." After a quick sigh of regret, he shook himself off. "Come on, let's go get that post-mortem report, we can discuss the case on the way."