Oh, thank goodness you’re here, Inspector. I honestly don’t know what to do.

Please, please do come in.

Yes. About Harriet. She’s… different.

Ever since the village children returned to us, something has been very wrong. That child - it’s not her.

What do I mean?

It’s just - not her. Well, yes, it’s her body. But that’s not my child. I know it’s not!

I know she only just returned yesterday evening, but she’s… I’m…

Have you had other reports from parents whose children have returned? You have? What have they said? My own account of what’s happening? Oh. Uh…

It’s everything, Inspector. The way she talks. The way she phrases things. Her accent. The way she looks at me, with such malevolence. I don’t feel safe in her presence. That’s not my daughter, Inspector, it’s not.

Our pet rabbit this morning. I found him in his hutch, dead. His neck had been broken.

Yes! I think it was my daughter! She’s not… right.

Where is she now? She’s in the garden. She’s just sitting there, staring into space. It’s like she’s in some kind or trance or something. Been like that for hours.

I tried to get her attention, to talk to her. First time I tried, she snarled at me and told me to leave her.

“Leave me be!” she said. What child phrases things that way?

Then since that time, every time I tried to talk to her she hasn’t responded. She just looks right through me. It’s like she has left. She’s somewhere else. Anywhere but in that body.

Inspector, something is very wrong. Are the other parents reporting…?

Oh, goodness. How many?

I… I need to sit down.

Inspector, what do I do? This child sitting out there - that is not my child. And I… I am frightened of it - her - whatever that is out there. It’s like it oozes pure evil out of its pores. You can feel mal-intent coming from it as soon as you get within a few paces from it/

What did it do with my child, Inspector? Please! Help me! What did it do? I need to find her. She must be somewhere.

No! That is not my child!

You see it - her - through the window there. Go see for yourself. You’ll understand when you get near her.

But Inspector, don’t go too close. Just… don't.