‘Oh no. We weren’t going that fast because the roads were so bad, and I had time to see what was happening, and I braced my hands on the dashboard. My shoulder felt a bit stiff for a while, but it didn’t last long.’

‘OK. So you got out of the car,’ Clement said, realising that those vague footprints really had been caused by a passenger after all. ‘What did you do then?’

‘What do you mean?’ Patsy repeated, again looking and sounding puzzled. ‘I walked to my aunt’s house, of course, and went to bed.’

Clement felt his mouth drop open, and snapped it closed. It was left to Vincent to ask the obvious question.

‘But, didn’t you call the police? Or an ambulance?’ he asked.

‘Oh no,’ Patsy said airily. ‘I couldn’t do that, could I? I didn’t want to get into trouble.’

And she looked from the young handsome man to the older handsome man, and smiled, waiting confidently for their approval.

Chapter 30

‘But you can’t have done nothing!’ Vincent said, staring at the girl as if she’d just grown an extra head.

Patsy, suddenly aware that the atmosphere in the car had changed – though she couldn’t tell why – looked at him helplessly. ‘Well … what do you think I should have done?’ she asked, sounding a bit petulant.

‘You left a man unconscious in a crashed car!’ Vincent said exasperated. ‘Er, he was unconscious, wasn’t he?’

‘Well, he wasn’t moving,’ Patsy said cautiously, thinking back. ‘I sort of shook his shoulder a bit, but his head was lolling against the steering wheel and he didn’t make any sound.’

Clement sighed heavily. ‘But you must have realised he needed help?’

Patsy frowned, and her lower lip began to tremble slightly. ‘But I was sure somebody would find him! There were houses all around! I thought people must have heard it, and would soon start coming out to find out what was what, and find me there with him, and my mum would kill me if she found out!’ she wailed. ‘She didn’t even know I was going to the party – she thought I was spending the night with Auntie!’

Again, she paused for a much-needed breath.

‘But it was late, and bitterly cold. People would have been asleep, with their windows tightly shut. And you said yourself the car wasn’t going fast, and the snow would have a blanketing effect. How loud could the crash have been?’ Clement spoke slowly and clearly, trying to bring it home to the girl the seriousness of her actions that night.

At this, the girl began to cry. ‘You’re being ut-utterly b-beastly to me,’ she accused, sniffling heavily.

At once, both men felt acutely uncomfortable.