A few hours later, Nikki was in the lab typing away at her computer when Leo, Harry and DI Johnson entered the lab
"Some of the residue under the fingernails is a match to Erin" Nikki said sliding a sheet of paper across the table to the three men "Its blood"
"Erin must have taken quite a beating. There was blood on her clothes when we first found her" Leo said grimly
Nikki nodded "I checked that against the DNA sample from Erin and that's defiantly hers"
"Hang on" Harry cut in after a moments thought "Some of the residue under the fingernails belongs to Erin, what about the rest?"
"Took you a while there" Nikki smirked as Harry rolled his eyes "The rest isn't a match to either of them. My guess is it might be the murderer" she said remembering what Harry and Leo had told her when she got back to the lab
"Do we have any idea who this is?" DI Johnson asked and Nikki shook her head "I can rule out people but we need a match before I can confirm anything"
"We have no suspects, only victims" Harry frowned
"I wouldn't be quite so sure" DI Johnson pulled a plastic bag out of hid pocket and put it on the table
Inside was a small, battered looking notebook with the words 'keep out' scrawled across it in loopy handwriting.
"SOCO's found it underneath the floorboards, its Erin's diary. Now as much as I hate to read other people's private thoughts, I think we have to make an exception"
Harry passed him a pair of latex gloves and DI Johnson carefully took the diary out of the bag. He flicked through it looking until he got to the most recent entry
"21st October" he said "That's about a month and a half to the day you found her Leo"
"A month and a half would probably match up to the state of malnourishment she had. I bet she hasn't had a decent meal in all that time" Harry said grimly
"What does it say?" Nikki asked curiously
DI Johnson laid the diary on the desk so they could all read it
"Dear Diary,
I don't know what to do anymore. She came for me last night, with her man both of them were drunk out of their minds. It was the usual time, I was about to drop off to sleep and she came hurtling into my room. Mum said I was bad and I needed to pay for my sins, she said I should be grateful for her putting a roof over my head. My wrist hurts now, I don't know if she broke it or not, I barely feel the pain only numbness. She hit me today, you should have seen the blood, and I don't know how I'm going to explain that at school. Mrs Roberts asked me how I got the bruise on my head and I told her I walked into a cupboard. She believed me and told me 'not to be so silly and clumsy in the future'.
Oh God…she's back and he's with her again. I deal with a replica of last night all over again. I'm going diary, it's my only chance, they'll kill me, I know they'll kill me if I stay here. I'm going to hide you away; they won't find you I promise. I wish I could take you with me, my loyal little notebook, the only one who knows the truth but I can't. So I'll hide you away and you'll be safe as for me I have to take me chances. This might be my last entry in you; I don't know where I'll end up. I have to go now, she's getting the alcohol out, and I can hear the bottles clinking. I feel sick now…I'm going to go now diary. I hope you stay safe and that she doesn't find you. No one can know how ungrateful I have been but I don't think my body can cope with paying for my sins tonight. Who knows where I'll end up…but it's now or never diary, now or never"
"Oh God…." Nikki put her hand over her mouth in shock.
Harry put a comforting hand on her shoulder but his face was carrying an expression of shock exactly the same as Nikki's
"We need to find out who this 'he' is" the DI said looking at the three shocked faces of the pathologists in front of him
"Do you think Erin would know?" Nikki said still looking shaken
The DI shrugged "It's worth a try but she doesn't seem to have specified a name in the diary so I'm not sure"
"What about other entries" Harry asked
"I haven't had a chance to look at them closely but they all pretty much specify the same thing. Her mother abuses her and Erin pours her heart out to this little book" the DI pinched the bridge of his nose "We've basically got no leads to go on. Erin is our main source and she's in no state to undergo a pressured interview"
"How long is the doctor keeping her in hospital for?" Leo asked suddenly
"A couple more days, they're getting social services involved but Erin's refused to speak to them so far"
"I don't blame her" Leo said angrily "They haven't exactly done anything for her in the past"
"Will she go into care?" Nikki asked
"I'm not sure what they're going to do with her. As far as I know there are no grandparents or aunties and uncles to speak of"
"What about the father?" Harry questioned
"Died when she was a year old" the DI sighed "He was severely depressed and he killed himself" he said bluntly
"Erin has been through so much.... won't anyone give the girl a break" Nikki said emotionally and Harry pulled her into a hug, unable to find any words that would soothe her
"We're going to have to talk to Erin again. She seems to be the key to all of this…" the DI said biting his lip
"We know she's safe in hospital for a couple more days. Maybe we could consider a social admission?" Leo said furrowing his brow in thought.
"We can try; I'm going to go back to the hospital to talk to Erin a bit later. When we left she was exhausted. She's in a fragile state and I don't want to push her too far, too soon"
The rest of the group nodded "We'll go over the stuff we've got here and see if anything crops up" Harry said
DI Johnson nodded "I appreciate it. I want to get this sorted for Erin. I'm not going to let her be put at risk any longer"
"Erin…" the voice called, elongating each syllable
Erin's eyes fluttered open as she blearily tired to place where the voice was coming from
"Bet you didn't think you'd see me again" came the voice
Erin looked up and saw a tall, blonde haired man standby there smirking. She was about to scream when he lurched forward and clamped his hand over her mouth tightly
"Shut up you little bitch. Don't you dare make a sound ok?" Erin nodded, her body was shaking and her face was drained of blood
"Now Erin you've been a bad girl. You thought you could escape, your mum was right about you, you're a bad one. And you know what happens to bad girls don't you? They're punished and Erin, you've been especially bad…"
Erin felt her stomach lurch as she stared into the cold dark eyes of the man standing before her
"…I've been looking for you, oh you thought you were smart but I've found you now. You're not getting away again Erin. You're going to have to pay for it now. See I need people who are useful, you mum stopped being useful but I've got you. You're younger, fitter and tender…."
He rubbed a finger against her cheek and Erin felt the sick rising in her throat
"…Oh yes, me and you are going to have fun. We're going to have to beat that bad streak out of you. Bad girls get punished and the doctor's going to let you out in a few days and then the games can begin"
Erin gagged and her body convulsed under his hand. He sneered at her and laughed cruelly in her face
"Erin, I…" the moment was interrupted as Doctor Myles walked into the room and stopped short when he saw what was happening "Security" he bellowed
But the blonde man bolted out of the room before anyone could get to him. As soon as he let his hand go from Erin's mouth she started screaming.
"Erin, Erin…look at me" the doctor said coming over to her
Erin was hysterical now, her face was red from all the crying and screaming and she had streams of tears running down her face. Her body convulsed and she was sick down her front, she gagged and started choking on her vomit. Doctors started to flood the room to try and calm the panic-stricken girl down as she desperately clawed at them, evidently scared out of her wits.
"We're going to have to sedate her again or she's going to hurt herself" Doctor Myles called to ne of his colleagues who nodded in reply
Erin screamed and kicked out at the doctors and nurses who were holding her down. She felt a prick in her leg and her muscles began to go weak. She was still being held down when her body went limp as the medication flowed through her system and she slipped into a sedated sleep.
