Mrs Muhammad led the way, skirting the cobbles where Shirelle had been lying, and going into the back of the launderette. She switched the alarm off and put the strip lights on.
‘How did you find her?’ Rachel asked Liam Kelly.
‘It was Mrs Muhammad,’ he said.
‘Rabia told me,’ the Asian woman said.
‘She was just lying there,’ the teenager explained, ‘when we were coming back through the alley.’
‘You were smoking,’ her mother interrupted, ‘you think I’m daft? I wasn’t born yesterday.’
‘Did she say anything?’ Rachel asked them.
‘No, she was unconscious,’ Rabia said.
‘Was she breathing though?’ Amina said dramatically, clutching Rabia’s arm.
‘Course she was, you div, or they’d have used the oxygen.’
‘Did you see anyone else?’ Rachel asked the girls. ‘Hear anyone? A car driving off?’ Had she been attacked where she was found or dumped in the alley afterwards?
They shook their heads.
‘Do you all know Shirelle?’ Rachel asked.
Everyone nodded.
‘She’s a local,’ Mels said.
And a drug pusher, Rachel thought. Did they all know that too?
‘Are you aware of anyone who wished her harm?’
No one spoke.
‘Any boyfriend, partner?’
Mels shook her head. ‘She used to come in with Victor,’ she said. ‘Not for a while though.’
There was a moment’s quiet – news of the double murder had been released late that afternoon. Another shock for the community.
‘Maybe she shot them, Victor and that,’ Amina said, a thrill dancing in her eyes, like it wasn’t real, unaffected by seeing the mess that someone had made of Shirelle’s face.
‘Don’t be thick,’ Rabia nudged her friend.
‘Do you know anything about that?’ Rachel said to Amina.
‘No.’
‘Who’d want to hurt Shirelle?’ Rachel said, looking around.
‘The EBA,’ Rabia said. ‘They’re stirring things up. People say we need to defend ourselves. This is our estate as well.’
‘That sort of talk just makes things worse,’ Mrs Muhammad said. ‘One lot of hotheads after another.’
‘No, Ma,’ Rabia said, ‘we need protection. You know what they say, take the town back for the British.’
‘You’re British,’ her mother said.
‘Try telling them that!’ Rabia said.
‘The police are here to protect you,’ Rachel said.
‘Oh, great. Like you did in the riots?’ The girl’s tone was sarcastic.
Eleven years ago, Rachel thought, Rabia would have been a little kid but she’d probably grown up hearing all about it.
‘You think it was a racist attack?’ Rachel said.
‘She’s mixed race, worst of both worlds,’ Amina chipped in.
Liam Kelly shrugged.
It was all speculation, bound to happen but she’d got nothing she could take back to the inquiry.