Page 45 of Child's Play

‘Here we are,’ Louise said. ‘The number was called from the college on Monday morning at 9.55.’

‘That’s the one,’ Kim said.

‘Call lasted two minutes thirty-three seconds and was made from extension number 27, which is… Oh.’

Louise picked up her phone and pressed the two and seven. She waited a few seconds and then shook her head.

‘It’s an active line but…’

‘But what, Louise?’ Felicity asked, frowning.

This was a woman who did not like surprises.

‘It doesn’t exist. There’s no extension 27 on the list.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ Felicity said, coming around to the other side of the desk. ‘There has to be.’

Louise shrugged. ‘It’s not on the list,’ she said, tightly.

Felicity looked over her shoulder. ‘So extension 26 is the Biology office and extension 28 is the Physics lab.’

‘But they were all swapped over and kept when—’

‘Excuse me,’ Kim said to remind them she was there.

‘Follow me. The Science block is one of the oldest parts of the complex,’ Felicity explained, as she headed towards the door through which she’d come. Both she and Bryant followed.

‘Hence the lower extension numbers. Right now, we’re in the process of moving the entire lab to the new block but it’s only part complete.’

Kim followed the woman whose heels were in no way detrimental to her speed. They travelled corridor after corridor, down stairs, upstairs and crossed from one block to another.

‘We’re keeping the extension numbers the same to avoid any confusion, but extension 27 appears to have slipped through the net.’

Felicity pushed open a heavy set of double doors as Kim’s phone signalled the receipt of a text message. She hung back and read it quickly.

She frowned at the text and the sender.

A cryptic text from DI Tom Travis was unlikely to add anything positive to her day. What the hell could he possibly want?

She put the phone away and joined the two of them in the corridor.

Felicity was pointing. ‘That’s the old Biology office and right next door is the Physics lab. There’s no phone in between.’

Kim looked to the door on the opposite side of the corridor.

‘What’s in?…’

‘That’s just a cleaner’s cupboard,’ Felicity said, as Kim opened the door.

She was right, Kim realised, noting the industrial mopping machine, buckets, brushes, shelving, as well as the phone on the wall.

‘Oh my… I had no…’

Kim turned to Bryant. ‘Unlikely we’ll get anything but give Mitch a call to see if there are prints.’

Bryant nodded and turned away.

‘We need this door locked, Ms Astor. No one is to enter this room until scene of crime officers have been in.’