The girl was brought in on Wednesday night. She’d been found wandering along the main road in her pyjamas and slippers. A passerby had stopped to help her but the girl was not cooperative so the police were called. She was small and skinny, with long dark hair and very pale skin. She didn’t look over 16.

Jason was at work that night in the A & E department and spoke to the paramedics who brought her in. She had blood on her pyjamas but it was soon discovered that any wounds were superficial.

“She’s not saying anything I’m afraid.” one said to Jason. She gave him a rueful look and handed her over.

“Hi, I’m Jason. Can you tell me your name?”. The girl did not even look at him. “I think we may need to call Psyche for this one”.

“Well, what do you think?” Simon asked as they reached the desk. Jason exhaled loudly.

“She’s obviously traumatised. My guess would be domestic abuse. We’ll see what Doc Wilson says tomorrow after her assessment.” He looked at his watch. “Well would you look at that? I’m done.” He handed over the girl’s chart to Jason and walked away, raising his arm as a farewell as he went.

Back on shift the next afternoon, Jason walked into A & E and saw that Dr Sara Wilson, the resident Psychiatrist, was sat next to the girl, a clipboard in her hand. It looked as if the girl was talking so he waited at the desk. Sara approached him.

“Hi Jason. She says her name is Kate Stirling and that ‘he’ hurt her and she had to get away from him. She wouldn’t tell me who ‘he’ was though. She is showing all the signs of PTSD but without further talks with her I’m reluctant to diagnose fully” she told him.

“Well thanks for getting that much.” Jason said.

About 2 hours later, two police officers entered the department.

“Who’s in charge?” the older one asked Jason.

“Me. Can I help you guys?”

“Can we go somewhere privately?”

“Sure” and Jason lead them to one of the family rooms on the ward.

“What’s this about?” he asked when they were all seated.

“We understand that a 14 year old girl was brought in her around 11pm.” he produced a photo from his pocket and passed it to Jason. “Is this the girl?”

Jason looked at the picture. It showed a smiling young girl and although completely different in demeanour, Jason recognised her.

“Yes. That’s Kate Stirling. Do you know about her then? Do you know who abused her?”

The police officers looked at each other.

“She is not who she says she is. Her name is Lucy Stirling and Kate was her mother. We believe she murdered her family.” the youngest officer said, bluntly.

Jason stared at him disbelief, his mind whirring.

“Are you sure?” he stuttered. “She is so tiny”

“She may be tiny but what she did...it will take me a long time to forget it” said the oldest officer with a shudder. They told him that if she was well enough they would arrest her now. Jason stammered that her wounds were surface only and as long as other all other tests came back ok she could go. He sent them to speak to Simon. He continued to sit there shaking his head slowly. He had jumped so quickly to the wrong conclusion and that was not how he should behave in his role. He vowed to not allow his imagination to run away with him next time. Although he really hoped there wouldn’t be a next time. He hauled himself up from the seat and went back to work.