Page 58 of Dying Truth

‘Whether we like it or not, kids kill kids, Bryant, and it’s a line of enquiry we have to explore.’

They all nodded and began their prescribed tasks.

She turned to Bryant.

‘Carry on to Shaun’s post-mortem. There’s somewhere I need to go.’

Thirty-Eight

‘So, how’d it go, Stace?’ Dawson asked her as soon as the boss and Bryant had left.

‘Is it your business?’ she asked without looking up. ‘I don’t recall you sharing all that much.’

‘Come on, show me yours and I’ll show you mine,’ he said, winking across the desk.

‘I’m showing yer nothing and there is nothing of yours I wish to see,’ she offered with a smile.

‘Did the boss tell you off for working late all the time?’ he asked.

‘I’d hazard a guess the boss didn’t tell you off for that,’ she replied.

‘Aww… come on, Stace. What were your areas of improvement?’ he pushed.

She met his gaze. ‘Chatting with my colleagues too much,’ she said, pointedly.

Stacey had no wish to share the details of her appraisal with him. She hadn’t meant to reveal to the boss the real reason behind her motivation and work ethic, but she’d hated the fact that the boss thought she was having to prove herself. She had never been made to feel that she had to outperform her male colleagues to be taken seriously. The boss would never have allowed that.

‘All right then, did you find out anything for me?’

She tutted. ‘Yeah I was all over it while you were off talking about bloody playing cards.’

‘Did you or not?’

She stared at him. ‘See that thing in front of you, it’s called a computer. You can do all kinds of wonderful things on it like search…’

‘Stace…’

She rolled her eyes in despair. Sometimes he frustrated the life out of her.

‘Okay, just a few facts. Tilly Tromans’s parents are new money. Father won EuroMillions jackpot two years into the marriage. Spent the first few million on yachts, houses and holidays and a huge divorce settlement after a string of affairs. Tilly had already been registered at Heathcrest and about the only thing her parents do agree on is the education of their child.

‘Completely different for Geoffrey Piggott, whose family dates back about seven centuries. Both parents are barristers, and his mother has just won a landmark Human Rights case.’

‘Right to stay?’ he asked.

She nodded. ‘And if you want any more than that you can flipping well search yourself,’ she said, huffily.

‘Didn’t see Devon last night, eh?’ he asked, smartly.

Stacey opened her mouth to answer but Dawson had already turned his attention back to the screen.

And by the look on his face there was something he was desperate to find.

Thirty-Nine

Kim knocked on the door that she had known from when she was six years old.

She heard the humming before Ted Morgan answered the door.