Page 97 of Child's Play

She understood that the hotel had three conference rooms, a banquet hall, gym, swimming facilities and an extensive play area for kids they’d driven by on the way in.

She passed by the double doors to the restaurant and headed through the reception area which was full of parents and children sitting around the tables: just as you would expect for such an event. Books and notepads covered the tables as most appeared to be cramming in extra study in the downtime. The absence of laughter and noise amongst so many children was unsettling.

She frowned and continued her journey through to the conference facilities.

The first room she entered had three clear areas for music. A piano, a violin and a flute. A judging table sat at the top of the room with three chairs behind.

Double doors adjoined to the next room, which was set out with chessboards, again with the single table at the top of the room.

The third room, across the hall, held the same three seats and judging table with a small raised podium in front of the window. She was guessing it was for spelling or questions.

The final room was the banquet hall, which she was surprised to see wasn’t empty.

Half the space was filled with seating: desks and easy chairs. The other half had already been set out for the main event the following night: the quiz that would crown one of the children Brainbox of the year.

A group of twenty parents or so were gathered, unspeaking, in a semicircle at the centre of the room.

Kim took a few steps closer and saw the reason.

A colourful clown was performing to a seated audience of about thirteen kids who all looked too old to be entertained by such an act.

She watched as the clown pulled a line of flags from his sleeve and then pretended to fall over.

‘Coco the crap,’ shouted one of the boys, Kim guessed to be about ten years old.

Nice, Kim thought. Not that the kid was wrong but she would have hoped for better manners.

Clearly, the organisers’ attempt to inject some light-hearted humour and play into the event was not a particularly popular attraction with the kids.

With the lay of the land noted in her head she returned through the reception, which had quieted even more as families had obviously retired to their rooms. By her watch it was approaching half ten.

The restaurant was almost empty but she was pleased to see her team putting Woody’s food budget to good use.

A chicken sandwich with a salad garnish had been placed before the empty seat.

She sat down and sipped the coffee that was lukewarm.

‘So?’ Bryant asked, spearing a forkful of tomato-covered pasta. ‘Find our killer yet?’

‘Eerily devoid of cheer for a kids’ event,’ she replied, ignoring Bryant’s question. ‘MakesMastermindlook like a blast.’

‘Hey, it’s a tough life for us child genius types,’ Bryant offered, causing Tiffany to almost choke on her food.

‘What the hell is that?’ Kim asked, glancing at her plate.

‘Fish-finger sandwich,’ Tiff said, licking her fingers.

‘Hang on, more importantly why was that so funny?’ Bryant asked the constable.

She remained silent and took another bite of her sandwich.

Stacey offered no reaction as she read something on her mobile phone. Her fish and chips appeared to have been rearranged instead of eaten.

‘You okay, Stace?’

‘Yeah, boss,’ she said, switching off her phone. She took a bite of the fish and then pushed away the plate.

Clearly, she was not, Kim noted and resolved to watch her closely.