Free Hard Frost by R. D. Wingfield

"£25,000? You had that sqrt of money in the bank?"
       "Yes - I run a used car business. Most of my suppliers insist on hard cash."
       Liz then turned to the girl, who had been staring down at the floor all the time her father was talking. "Right, Carol. Can you tell me what happened to you?"
       Carol drew Simms's greatcoat tighter around her and Frost realized she was naked underneath. Her voice was not much more than a whisper and they had to strain to hear what she was saying. She had gone to bed just after midnight and was just dropping off when she heard the sound of breaking glass from downstairs. She thought it might be her parents back early, so she clicked on the bedside lamp. Almost immediately the lamp went out. Then she heard men's voices from inside the house. She fumbled in the dark for the cordless phone and dialled 999, but nothing happened. The phone was dead. Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs . . .
       "I jumped out of bed and tried to wedge a chair under the door handle, but he burst in on me and there was this light in my eyes and the knife . . ." She started to shake. Her mother held her tighter.
       "Take your time, love," said Frost.
       "I opened my mouth to scream, but he jabbed the knife at my throat and said if I made a sound he'd slice through my vocal cords. I must have passed out." The recollection made her shrink back inside the greatcoat. "The next thing I remember was being bumped about. I realized I was in the back of a van, being driven at speed. I was blindfolded and I was cold. They'd thrown a sack over me, but I was freezing. I tried to get up, but a hand pushed me down and a man's voice said, "I think she's with us again." Then they pulled the sacking back."
       " They? ' queried Liz.
       "There were two of them in the back with me. They pulled the sacking back and they . . . they did things . . ."
       "The bastards," exploded her father.
       "What things?" asked Liz.
       The girl shook her head. "I'm not going to talk about it."
       "Did they rape you?" asked Liz.
       "No."
       "How many of them were there?" said Frost.
       She switched her gaze to him. "Four. Two in the back with me, the other two in the front."
       "And all men?"
       "I only heard men's voices."
       "How old would you say they were?"
       She shrugged. "I don't know - late twenties, early thirties."
       "And you didn't recognize any of the voices?"
       "No."
       Liz waited patiently for Frost to finish. "I'd like a doctor to examine you, Carol."
       "No."
       "If they raped you, there are DNA tests that would help us identify them."
       "They didn't rape me, I told you . . . I'm not going to talk about it any more."
       "All right," soothed Liz. "What happened then?"
       "The van stopped and they changed places . . . the other two men came in. I pretended I'd passed out, so they didn't do anything much, just sat and smoked. After what seemed such a long time, someone banged on the side of the van and called, "We've got the money." The van drove off, then it stopped and I was pushed out. By the time I'd got the blindfold off, it was out of sight. A car came . . . but it wouldn't stop . . . and then the police car picked me up." She wrapped the greatcoat around her like a cocoon.
       "I really would like a doctor to take a look at you," urged Liz.
       "No!" She screamed the word out. "I'm all right. Just leave me alone." With an abrupt shrug she shook off her mother's arm. "Just leave me alone."
       "She's upset," said her mother.
       "That's right," exploded Stanfield sarcastically, 'explain it to them. They wouldn't bloody know otherwise." To Frost he said, "Right inspector, you've had a nice sit-down - now go and catch the bastards!"
    "Just a few more questions," said Frost. He smiled at the girl. "You heard breaking glass. You switched on the bedside lamp and tried to dial 999. The lamp went out and the phone was dead - '
       "Because they'd