Page 56 of Dying Truth

‘Look, Stace, don’t let opportunities pass you by because you’re trying to prove yourself to people who already know—’

‘I’m not,’ Stacey said, simply.

Kim tipped her head and waited for her colleague to continue.

‘I heard what you said almost three years ago,’ Stacey said, biting her bottom lip. ‘Just two words.’

Kim shook her head, no idea what Stacey was referring to.

‘I’d just joined the team. It was my first week and I had no clue what I was doing. I thought I’d made a huge mistake in joining CID. You all seemed to be working around me, doing your jobs, while I sat dumbly on the side like a spectator. I made coffee, I fetched lunch and generally tried not to get in the way.’

Kim nodded. ‘You were just finding your—’

‘Woody came down and spoke to you in the office. He thought I couldn’t hear and offered to have me transferred to another team.’

Kim had almost forgotten. Yes, she remembered it now.

‘Two words, you said to him. When he offered to have me removed from the team you said to him “try it”. I’ve never forgotten.’

Kim did remember but she’d never thought for a minute that Stacey had overheard.

Stacey had found her own niche within the team as Kim had known she would. She had identified a gap in their skills spectrum and had filled it with her superior knowledge of data mining.

Stacey stood. ‘So, you see, boss, I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I’m just trying to make you proud.’

Kim opened her mouth to speak but Stacey was already out of the door.

She found herself relieved as she had no clue what she would have said.

Thirty-Seven

‘Okay, folks,’ Kim said, glancing around at her team. ‘Following the performance of Tracy Frost at the press conference yesterday, and the death of ShaunCoffee-Todd, an official statement has been issued from Lloyds House declaring that Sadie Winters was murdered. Her parents were notified last night and understandably are in shock at the news. I suspect we’ll be seeing them later at Heathcrest.’

‘By whom?’ Bryant asked.

‘Sorry?’ Kim asked.

‘Who informed her parents? It wasn’t us.’

‘I suspect it was the same person who was trying to insist it was suicide but that’s not our concern right now.’

Woody’s phone call last night had been terse and cool.

‘So, what are you thinking about ShaunCoffee-Todd?’ Dawson asked.

Kim held up her hand. ‘Slow down, Kev. One kid at a time,’ she said. ‘Sadie first.’ She looked to the detective constable. ‘Stace?’

‘Okay, Principal Thorpe left Heathcrest in 1993 and attended Oxford, where he studied social sciences and economics.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Dawson said. ‘He was a busy boy, wasn’t he?’

‘And did well in all subjects,’ she said. ‘So, he left the education system in 1997, spent five years teaching at a private boys’ school in Kent before returning to Heathcrest in ’02 as a maths teacher, before being promoted to deputy principal in ’09, and principal three years ago when Principal Richmond retired. He has a long-term girlfriend named Catherine.’

‘Christ, Stace, where did you get all that from?’ Bryant asked, impressed.

‘Tinder,’ she joked.

‘Okay,’ Kim said, mentally filing the information away. ‘Next.’