Better Left Buried by Emma Haughton

towards me. I thought he was going to kill me.”
    I shudder at the memory. I feel sick, the numbness of shock wearing off to a kind of dread.
    â€œBut he didn’t hit you?”
    â€œHe swerved at the last minute.”
    â€œDo you reckon he intended to hurt you?”
    I hesitate. If he did, why swerve? Because there were people around? I force myself back. Picture his expression. More startled, perhaps. Desperate.
    â€œI’m not sure,” I admit. “Maybe he was just trying to scare me.”
    PC Wilson puts my phone down on the table between us. “So at what point did you take those photos?”
    â€œI saw him parked over in Tolley Street. I wanted to get a photo.” I leave out the bit about wanting to talk to him. It seems crazy now, that I ever considered it. What the hell was I thinking?
    PC Wilson frowns. I know, at least, what she’s thinking. That I am very, very stupid.
    â€œI don’t suppose you got his number plate?”
    â€œNo, I’m sorry, it all happened so quickly.” I chew my lip again. “I didn’t think…” My words tail off. I could kick myself for being such an idiot.
    â€œOkay…” She closes the file on the burglary and nods at my phone. “Do you mind if I make a copy of that photograph? Then I’ll take a statement.”
    â€œSo you don’t recognize him?” I slump back in disappointment. I guess I was expecting something more definite.
    PC Wilson gives a regretful shrug. “I’m afraid not.”
    â€œBut he must be local. I mean, why else would I keep seeing him?”
    â€œI don’t know, Sarah. I’m fairly familiar with all the troublemakers round here, and this isn’t a face I’ve seen before. But I’ll show it around. Check whether any of my colleagues can identify him.” She pauses, looks at me. “You say you keep seeing him. How many times now?”
    â€œFour for definite. Once on the street, once on the bus – when he dropped that map I told you about – then another time outside a cafe a few days later. And this afternoon.”
    â€œBut he’s never tried to approach you?”
    â€œNo. Quite the opposite. He runs off, like he doesn’t want any contact.”
    â€œCan you think of any reason he might be following you?”
    I shake my head again. “I assumed it was something to do with the burglary, but that doesn’t explain why he was there today.” Should I mention Lizzie’s reaction when she saw him? That she disappeared soon afterwards?
    I decide against it. After all, what could I say? That I think my friend recognized him, and then she went on holiday without telling me, but she’s all right because her mum has spoken to her? The police won’t be interested in that. Besides, my whole story sounds pretty silly as it is.
    There’s a moment where neither of us speak, then PC Wilson nods at my phone. “Can I borrow it for a sec?”
    I hand it over, and she disappears for several minutes, returning with a printout of the picture. She tucks it in our file, then leans forward and looks at me.
    â€œListen, Sarah. It’s good that we’ve got this. It may help us catch whoever broke into your house. What you did was very brave, but I do need to ask you to be more cautious in future.”
    I try to meet her gaze.
    â€œWhat I mean is, you should leave this to us now. We’re doing everything we can.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œSo if you see this man again, you just call me, all right?”
    I nod. I feel chastised. Stupid. How could I have been so stupid ?
    â€œDon’t do anything. Don’t approach him, Sarah. He might be dangerous.”
    It’s almost an echo of that father’s words, the one who came to check I was okay.
    You should be more careful.

16
thursday 1st september
    â€œ Vivace , vivace! ”
    Mrs Perry waggles her hands backwards and forwards rapidly to