First Frost by Henry James Read Free Book Online

attacked, in the garden,’ the woman said nervously. ‘Whatever sort of animal did this needs to be caught before another child is seriously hurt. Or worse.’
    ‘You told the station,’ said Hanlon, stepping over to the French doors, ‘that you thought it was a fox.’
    ‘Yes, that’s what I first thought.’ The woman followed him over to the doors. ‘But I now think it might have been bigger – a big cat sort of thing.’
    ‘A what?’ exclaimed Frost. He was surprised to see Hanlon easily open the French doors – so they weren’t locked, then. If the woman was genuinely afraid of something outside, she’d have at least secured the property.
    Hanlon stepped into the yard, over the toys, walked round the sandpit and towards the high fence. Frost didn’t think it would have been that easy for a fox to leap over, but what did he know?
    ‘Yes,’ Liz Fraser continued, ‘a large cat. You know, perhaps one of those panthers.’
    ‘A panther?’ spluttered Frost.
    ‘There were those sightings not so far from here, weren’t there, near Wells last summer,’ Liz Fraser insisted.
    Frost was sure she was blushing. Her pale, greasy skin was turning blotchy.
    ‘But I didn’t see much, of course,’ she added. ‘I was in the kitchen tidying up, and Becky was having her nap in the pushchair, out the back. But as soon as I heard her scream, I ran outside.’ She took a deep breath, and continued shakily, ‘There it was, dark and hairy, disappearing over the fence.’
    ‘Wasting police time is an offence, you know,’ said Frost dismissively. He’d had enough. ‘I suggest you get your story straight.’ He made for the hallway, then paused by the lounge door. ‘Who else lives here? The child’s dad?’
    ‘Chucked him out,’ Liz Fraser said quietly. ‘I live on my own now.’
    ‘When did this happen?’ said Frost. ‘When did he go?’
    ‘The other day,’ she almost whispered.
    ‘Where’s he live now?’ said Frost.
    ‘Don’t know and don’t care.’ Her bottom lip was quivering.
    ‘Does he have a name?’
    ‘Simon, Simon Trench.’
    ‘You weren’t married, then?’
    ‘No, thank God.’ Liz Fraser walked over to Becky, who’d begun crying in earnest, and picked her up, saying, ‘It’s all right, sweetheart.’
    ‘You want to tell me exactly when you last saw this Simon Trench?’
    ‘As I said, I chucked him out the other day. Haven’t seen him since.’
    She seemed to be avoiding looking Frost in the eye. Frost didn’t see the point in pushing the woman on her relationship problems any further right now – he had an idea where it was heading. She was in all sorts of denial, and he was no shrink or social worker. What he suddenly wanted to do was to get the child into some type of proper care right away.
    Hanlon was still in the backyard studying the fence and beyond. Frost thought the detective constable was being ridiculous, appearing to take the wild-animal nonsense seriously. But it gave him an idea, as he pictured in his mind the rabies warning poster Bill Wells had just stuck up in the lobby, back at the station. ‘All right,’ he said, ‘we better get your daughter checked out by the experts.’
    ‘But I was a nurse,’ Liz Fraser said, panic – or was it fear? – creeping into her voice. ‘I’m an experienced childminder.’
    ‘So you’ve said,’ said Frost.
    ‘She doesn’t need to see a doctor,’ Liz Fraser gabbled. ‘I’ve attended to her wounds. It’s what’s out there that I’m worried about. That’s why I called the police.’
    ‘It’s what’s out there that I’m worried about, too,’ said Frost, looking away. ‘We’ll give you a lift to Denton General.’
    ‘It’s really not necessary,’ Liz Fraser said, clutching her child tighter to her chest.
    ‘Yes, it is,’ countered Frost, as Hanlon stepped back into the lounge.
    ‘But why?’ Liz Fraser bleated.
    ‘There’s been an alert: rabies,’ Frost said gravely. ‘Young Becky will have to be