Miv and Sharon return to the corner shop and question Mr. Bashir. He reveals that he formerly lived in Bradford and his family is originally from Pakistan. The girls are surprised when Mr. Bashir’s son, Ishtiaq, bursts exuberantly into the shop. Ishtiaq is in the same grade as Miv and Sharon, but he always seems shy and unsmiling.

After Miv and Sharon leave the shop, Omar Bashir reflects on how he ended up in the Yorkshire town. As a young man, he emigrated from Pakistan to Bradford to work in the mills. He then secured a better-paid job on the buses, allowing his wife, Rizwana, to join him. Omar feels a surge of grief as he looks at a photograph of his late wife.

Omar warns Ishtiaq to be careful, as aggressive-looking youths are hanging around outside. As Brian enters the shop, Omar turns down his music because he has observed the young man wincing at loud noises. Brian only comes into the shop when it is empty and is uncomfortable with social interaction. Consequently, they have developed a routine. Omar pre-prepares Brian’s order, and the young man leaves the correct change on the counter. One day, Brian’s mother, Valerie, thanked Omar for being kind to her son. Since then, Omar has felt the beginnings of his acceptance in the Yorkshire town.

Ishtiaq discovers racist graffiti painted outside the shop and suggests they should never have moved from Bradford. Omar tells Ishtiaq they must give the situation time. However, secretly, he wonders if Ishtiaq is right. After Rizwana’s death, he decided to move away from Bradford and Rizwana’s family for a new start. However, in Bradford, there was an established Pakistani community, while he and Ishtiaq are “the only brown faces” (61) in their new town.

Miv plans to find out more about Mr. Bashir by questioning Ishtiaq. She and Sharon arrive at the corner shop to find Omar scrubbing the wall. Miv has seen the “N.F.” graffiti elsewhere and assumes it is someone’s initials. She notes that Mr. Bashir looks uncharacteristically angry and recalls this is how the Ripper is often described. Ishtiaq agrees to play cricket with them the following day.

The next day, Sharon admits that her father was angry about her making friends with Ishtiaq. Miv recalls how, at junior school, a girl named Shazia Mir was bullied, and she joined in cruel chants about Shazia to fit in. She stopped participating after the other children chanted that her own mother was “in a loony bin” (69).

Ishtiaq tells the girls that his mother died and that he and his father spend all their time together. Miv and Sharon are relieved, concluding that Mr. Bashir cannot be the Ripper. In the park, they encounter Neil Callaghan and Richard Collier, who tell the girls they “should stick to [their] own kind” (75). After the boys leave, Sharon angrily asks Ishtiaq how often this happens to him. He confirms it is a daily occurrence.

When Miv gets home, she finds her mother standing outside in her nightdress, shivering. Speaking to her mother like a child, she coaxes her back to bed.

The next day, Miv’s father leaves for his supervisory role at the delivery depot, and Aunty Jean goes to the unemployment office where she works. Miv’s mother sits downstairs in an armchair, staring blankly at the television.

Miv is surprised when Sharon suggests calling on Ishtiaq, pointing out that they have crossed Mr. Bashir off the list. Sharon suggests they can still have fun with Ishtiaq and talk about the list later. The corner shop is closed, and Mr. Bashir is inside, scrubbing the floor. Ishtiaq explains that someone threw a bottle of urine into the shop, and says he is not coming outside. Sharon suggests they play a board game instead.

After the holidays, Miv sees Ishtiaq in the school corridor but walks past without acknowledging him. Afterward, she feels sick and wonders why she did not speak to him. Miv is reminded of a painful experience. On a family holiday, her parents made friends with another couple, and Miv became friendly with their daughter Joanne, who attended the same infant school. However, when they returned to school, Joanne ignored Miv.

In Miv’s history class, Mr. Ware asks his students to research a local story relating to the Industrial Revolution and the Yorkshire mill workers. Miv has some knowledge of the mills’ history because, before they closed, most of the women in her family worked there, including Aunty Jean.

Mr. Ware is feared by his pupils, and Miv notices he looks particularly angry. He also has a mustache and only recently moved to the area. Miv suggests to Sharon that Mr. Ware could be the Ripper. Sharon suggests that the mills would be the perfect place to hide bodies. Miv puts both on the list.

Mike Ware has been angry since leaving his wife crying that morning. Another teacher, Caroline Stacey, nervously approaches him, and Mike realizes she is intimidated by him. He wonders if his wife’s complaints about his behavior are well-founded.

Caroline suggests separating Neil Callaghan and Richard Collier in class to address their disruptive behavior. She notes that Richard is the ringleader, and Neil might benefit from the separation. Mike agrees, recalling the rumor that Richard’s father is aggressive and recently lost his job. He wonders if Richard’s father is a bully. Mike is secretly relieved that his own son, Paul, does not have to attend the school where he works. Mike has tried “to toughen his son up” (97), fearing he is too sensitive. This has led to accusations of bullying from his wife.

Mike enters the classroom to find Stephen Crowther struggling to pick up his schoolbooks from the floor. Irritated by Stephen’s vulnerability, he tells him to hurry up, kicking the books as he walks past.

Miv notices that her hands are trembling as she reads how the Ripper incapacitates women with a hammer blow before stabbing them with a screwdriver. She decides that she and Sharon must find out more about Mr. Ware.

On the school coach to the recreation center, Miv and Sharon sit near the teachers. The girls overhear Mr. Frazer talking to Mr. Ware about his engagement to Caroline Stacey. Mr. Ware advises Mr. Frazer to think twice before committing to marriage. He then apologizes, saying he is becoming “bitter.” Miv concludes she needs to learn more about Mr. Ware’s wife.

During their gym lesson, Mr. Ware taunts Stephen Crowther for his lack of athleticism and calls him a “fairy.” Sharon angrily observes that Mr. Ware is a bully and therefore a credible suspect. Neil Callaghan and Richard Collier brag about breaking into Healy Mill. They claim they saw the ghost of a little boy and heard his clogs on the wooden floor.

Waking in the night, Miv hears her father using the phone. He complains that he is exhausted and is considering moving the family away from Yorkshire.

Sharon’s mother, Ruby, asks Miv and Sharon to help at a church coffee morning. The girls agree to divide their investigative skills: Sharon mingles and chats with people, while Miv observes from the cake stall. Miv admires a friendly, elegant-looking woman who introduces herself as Hazel Ware, Mr. Ware’s wife. Another woman approaches, asking how Hazel is. Although that conversation is polite, Miv notices a frosty atmosphere between the two women. Hazel then leaves with her son, Paul. Miv feels inexplicably flushed after Paul smiles at her. Shortly afterward, Sharon hears a group of women calling Hazel Ware a “tart.” Miv recalls this word being used to describe the kind of women the Ripper seeks out.

Miv hasn’t told Sharon that she ignored Ishtiaq in the school corridor and is anxious when Sharon suggests visiting him. Ishtiaq is polite but distant with Miv. To break the ice, she asks if he can teach them to play chess. They all become absorbed in the game until Sharon realizes she must go home. Miv chooses to stay, and Ishtiaq accepts her apology.

One evening, Miv and Sharon walk to Healy Mill. Ignoring the “danger” and “no entry” signs, they climb a fire escape, gaining entry to the first floor. Looking at the old disused machinery, Miv recalls the only time she saw Aunty Jean cry as she described her father’s decline after the mills closed. When the girls are confronted by a security guard, Sharon tells him they are researching a school project. The guard warns them that the mill is dangerous, revealing that a boy called John Harris was strangled there, and sometimes, his clogs can be heard.

Miv and Sharon go to the library to research John Harris. They meet the new librarian, Mrs. Andrews, who finds a book on Healy Mill’s history. The girls discover that in 1856, 12-year-old John Harris worked at Healy Mill. He and his friends had heard about the recent execution of the murderer, Dr. William Palmer, and devised a game called “Hang Palmer” in which they reconstructed the serial killer’s death. John’s friends tied him to machinery, unaware that another worker was about to set it in motion. John was strangled, and his friends were tried for manslaughter.

23-year-old Helen Andrews loves her new job at the library. Her husband, Gary, agreed to her accepting it once he established she would be home to cook his tea. Helen waives the lending limit for Valerie Lockwood, who borrows a heap of books on the Second World War for her son, Brian.

Helen stops at the corner shop on the way home and enthusiastically tells Omar about her new job. However, as she nears home, she feels increasingly deflated.

Miv’s class goes to the pool for their swimming lessons. In the changing rooms afterwards, Miv and Sharon hear a commotion from the pool. They see Richard Collier holding Stephen Crowther underwater with Neil Callaghan’s help as Ishtiaq and other boys try to intervene. When Mr. Ware blows his whistle. Richard lets go of Stephen, but he continues to float, motionless. Dragging Stephen out of the pool, Mr. Ware resuscitates him. On the bus back to school, Sharon angrily observes that she hates seeing vulnerable people being hurt and is glad they are investigating the Ripper.

The next day, Stephen has recovered and is back at school. Richard and Neil have been suspended, and a supply teacher teaches Mr. Ware’s classes. Stephen tells Miv and Sharon that Mr. Ware accompanied him to the hospital and kept crying and apologizing, saying he felt responsible for the incident. He also reveals that, according to local gossip, Mr. Ware’s wife has left him for another man.

Miv wonders how she should feel about Hazel Ware. She still admires her, but can imagine what Aunty Jean would think. She also wonders if Mr. Ware’s remorse about Stephen means he is not a suspect. Miv is surprised to learn that Sharon has secretly been giving Stephen running lessons.

After Stephen is discharged, Mike Ware continues to visit the hospital every day. He has taken leave from work but has nowhere to go. Mike recalls the depressing meeting with Richard’s and Neil’s parents. Neil’s parents apologized but made excuses for their son, while Richard’s father, Kevin Collier, stared aggressively at the headmaster. Mike noted that Richard was fixated on his father’s face throughout, which reminded him of his own relationship with his father. He remembers his father once making him stand in the corner as punishment for crying. Mike had vowed that he would never be like his father, but now feels that he has become exactly like him.

That evening, Mike visits Hazel to talk. Hazel looks astonished when Mike apologizes for being difficult to live with. She thanks him for the admission, but confirms it is too late to save their marriage.

As the summer holidays begin, Miv’s mother is sent away for a “break.” Although Miv misses her mother as she used to be, the house’s atmosphere lightens without her silent presence. After hearing Aunty Jean talk about Howden’s Scrapyard and its connection to criminal activity, Miv adds the location to her list.

Sharon has recorded “the Ripper tape,” which is constantly replayed on the news. The tape is a message sent to George Oldfield, the police officer heading the Ripper case, purportedly from the serial killer. In a Geordie (northeastern British) accent, the man claims to respect Oldfield while taunting him for his failure to catch him. Since hearing it, Miv and Sharon have been on the lookout for anyone without a Yorkshire accent.

At Austin’s workplace, police officers ask the staff if they recognize the voice on the Ripper tape. A coworker jokes that it is lucky Jim Jameson, a Geordie truck driver, is not at work.

Miv and Sharon visit Howden’s Scrapyard. A man emerges from the site’s Portakabin and bathes outside. Miv observes that the man is wearing a donkey jacket like the Ripper’s. They creep up to the Portakabin and see a sleeping bag and stove inside, suggesting the man is living there. There is a wedding photograph next to the sleeping bag.

The next day, Miv and Sharon see Arthur, the rag-and-bone man, on his horse and cart. They realize he is the man from the Portakabin. The girls know Arthur and ask him why he is staying at Howden’s Scrapyard. Arthur reveals that his wife, Doreen, recently died, and he cannot bear to be at home alone. He has therefore offered to stay in the Portakabin as a security guard. Sharon starts to cry, revealing she still misses her grandmother, who died around the time Miv’s mum fell silent. Miv cannot believe she didn’t know this. She wishes she could be naturally caring and kind like Sharon.

Miv and Sharon visit Arthur at the Portakabin every day. One morning, they find that his belongings have been thrown across the scrapyard. Arthur explains that some youths came in the night, threatened him, and ransacked the Portakabin.

Miv and Sharon go to the corner shop and buy candy for Arthur. Omar advises them on Arthur’s favorites.

Omar dwells on Arthur’s attackers, wondering if the culprits are the same youths persecuting him. He realizes Arthur is a proud man who is unlikely to ask for help. Later, Omar cooks a meal and leaves a portion by the scrapyard gates, flashing his headlights before leaving.

Miv and Sharon help Arthur move back into his house and continue to visit him regularly. They see Hazel Ware holding hands with a handsome man, followed by Paul.