Page 44 of Little Children

‘One last question, Detective Inspector. Do your colleagues know that you were responsible for the death of an innocent man?’

Kim shoved him out of the way before closing the door.

Bryant pulled away from the kerb quickly but not before she saw the smirk playing on the reporter’s face.

‘Wanna talk about it?’ Bryant asked once they were out of view.

She shook her head. Why would she want to talk about the single biggest mistake of her life?

Twenty-Four

Stacey checked the board one more time before opening up the first batch of CCTV files. She had printed out photos of everyone connected to the case so far. Most of them were family members, and to the right was a photo of Roderick Skidmore. She had decided to work through the footage chronologically and focus on every action she could see from the minute Lewis had approached the amusement arcade.

She located the time stamp for when he entered through the doors opposite McDonald’s. Although it was dark beyond the entrance, she was sure she’d be able to pick him up from further in the distance. She moved the cursor to the rewind icon and moved back five seconds, then looked to the middle of the frame and saw Lewis cutting across Central car park on Bonny Street. She moved back a further five seconds to wait for him to come into view at the top of the frame.

She was surprised to see that he was already in shot, just about, but he wasn’t moving. His position matched the trajectory of the snippet she’d already watched, but he was seemingly just standing in the middle of the car park. He wasn’t looking down, and no light from a mobile phone lit up his face. His hands were in his pockets, and he was still, as though listening. And then he moved further into shot as he started walking towards the arcade.

She went back another five seconds. Already standing at the edge of the frame.

Another five seconds.

Already there.

Another five seconds.

He moved into shot.

Stacey checked the time stamp of him moving away from the spot.

Forty-four seconds.

Who was he standing talking to for forty-four seconds?

She made a note of the time and returned to the footage where Lewis entered the arcade. She continued watching for a minute or so, analysing the expressions of the people who came in behind him.

Her heart stopped as she noticed a figure enter the arcade just a minute after Lewis.

She knew exactly who it was.

His photo was staring at her from the board.

Twenty-Five

‘Oh, Jesus,’ Kim said, reaching for her phone as Bryant pulled up outside the home of the third person on the list.

They were two streets back from the Promenade, and the house was in a row of four at the end of some boarded-up shops.

‘Wassup?’ Bryant asked, glancing down at her phone, which had just tinged a message. ‘Is it your bestie again?’

‘Bryant,’ she warned him.

‘Okay, sorry. Is it Frost?’

‘Yep,’ she said with a long sigh.

‘What now?’

‘She wants to know where I am and what time I’m finishing work.’