Page 84 of Dying Truth

He took out his mobile phone and called up a search engine. Something had happened to Harrison Forbes, and he wanted to know what.

He typed in the kid’s name and got precisely no matching results. Hundreds of hits for his father who owned valuable rental property in London but not one item for his son. No Facebook account, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. Absolutely nothing and not one news report of any kind to corroborate what the neighbour had said.

And why all the secrecy surrounding the family moving away. Who or what were they afraid of?

Fifty-Eight

Kim had done everything she could to distract herself from the nagging thought in her head.

It was a half thought that had been growing in her mind all day. Ever since her conversation with Ted, which seemed like a lifetime ago.

She’d made coffee, walked Barney, eaten, and then plonked herself on the floor amongst approximately one hundred parts of Norton Commando. She viewed these components as a chef might view basic ingredients. Alone and separate they didn’t amount to much but bring them all together and the result was pure magic.

And even that hadn’t distracted her.

Killing a child was a heinous act in itself but the deaths occurring in a place where students outnumbered adults by fifteen to one she had no choice but to consider the unthinkable, and yet no one would discuss the possibility with her. No one wanted to consider the validity of what was in her head.

That the murders might have been carried out by another child.

So, did that mean she was dealing with evil in a person who wasn’t yet fully grown? Was there such a thing as an evil child and would they ever be capable of such a thing?

Many of the examples Ted had offered had involved children from broken homes or complicated backgrounds. Heathcrest was a place of wealth, privilege and achievement.

Yes, she supposed the flip side of that was ambition, ruthlessness and power but what the hell had Sadie Winters done wrong? She hadn’t been a threat to anyone.

And yet there seemed to be an insidiousness surrounding the adults linked to Heathcrest. Many of the staff had been students and had gravitated back to the facility. The majority of the parents had once been students at Heathcrest. Both students and adults were involved with the secret societies that some people were trying to abolish and yet were still going strong.

She sighed as the thoughts continued to chase their own tails around her mind. She could avoid it no longer. The notion that had been with her all day propelled her to her feet.

Right now she had no clue who had killed Sadie and Shaun or why, but she needed a better understanding of evil and all its forms.

She needed someone who wouldn’t shy away from a difficult conversation.

And for that, there was only once place she could go.

Fifty-Nine

Kim dismounted the Ninja and removed her helmet.

The entrance to Drake Hall Prison had changed very little since her last visit. The grey metal gate adjoined the tall grid fencing designed to contain the prisoners within. But Kim knew evil managed to seep through the gaps.

The courtesy call she’d placed before leaving home had been met with cooperation at her unorthodox request. An unscheduled visit with an inmate outside normal visiting hours and without their permission had depleted her favours reserve at the prison, and she just hoped it was worth it.

Warden Edwards greeted her at the door with an outstretched hand.

‘Detective Inspector Stone, good to see you again,’ he said, warmly.

She returned the handshake.

This man had offered her the courtesy of believing her accusations against Alexandra Thorne when no one else would. Her claims of Alex’s power beyond the confines of the walls and barbed wire had sounded fanciful even to her own ears. That she could concoct a plan for murder and implement it without getting even a speck of dirt on her own hands had not surprised Kim in the least. Warden Edwards had listened, and it had saved lives.

Twice now Kim had crossed paths with the sociopathic psychiatrist and both times the woman had tried to penetrate her psyche and break her down. And both times she had failed. Just. Seeing her again was a risk Kim had to take, because no one knew evil like Alexandra Thorne.

‘Did you do as I asked?’ Kim said as he escorted her to the front desk and handed her a pass.

He nodded. ‘She’s in the visitor’s room but doesn’t know you’re coming.’

Kim wanted the element of surprise on her side. Giving Alex the time to plan for a conversation would have been foolhardy.