Page 86 of Little Children

‘What are we doing here, Bryant?’ Stacey asked, sitting back in her chair.

‘Trying to find two missing boys and some bad apples,’ he said as his phone dinged receipt of a text message.

He took it out and read it with a smile. ‘Guv wants to know if we’re back at the hotel yet.’

He began typing a response.

‘Ah, still looking after us even though she’s not here,’ Stacey said.

‘Nah, Stace. She means she hopes we’re not slacking off.’

He finished his reply and put his phone down.

‘What did you say?’

‘Told her we’d just got off the Big Dipper and we’re heading towards the bumper cars.’

Stacey chuckled before continuing. ‘Do you think they’ll pay any more attention to Lewis now?’

‘I definitely think that’s gonna happen after seeing what you uncovered today. Bloody good work by the way.’

‘Thanks for that,’ she said, rubbing at her eyes. ‘But I’m more worried about you. What the hell was Roy playing at today?’

‘Dunno. We attended the crime scene. Bastard tried to get me to take a photo. Went to see Jasmine’s ex-boyfriend, then to the morgue and then over to Pippa’s for a bit of stress relief.’

He considered sharing his suspicions about Jasmine’s murder and the visit to her ex-boyfriend, but he wanted to get the thoughts straight in his head first, and the exhaustion of the day was just starting to catch up with him.

‘Aah yes, Pippa and the cryptic call. Did it work?’ Stacey asked.

‘Yeah, this time, but how about the next time? Who’s going to stop it happening then?’

‘You haven’t got enough to go to the chief?’ Stacey asked, stifling a yawn.

He shook his head. ‘I’ve got no proof of him actually doing anything with Pippa, and she’s not going to make a statement. She’s terrified of him – she’s moving just to get out of his reach. We’ve got to nail him for something big. We’ve got to make sure he can’t hurt anyone else again.’

‘How are we gonna do that?’ she asked.

‘I really have no idea.’

‘Bryant, do you think we’re in too deep here without the boss?’

He’d wondered the same thing himself. Every time he’d had a free minute, he’d considered calling the guv to discuss Jasmine’s murder with her, and every time he’d reached the same conclusion before activating his phone.

‘Trouble is, she’s been called back to deal with a body. We gotta try and keep things moving in her absence.’

‘Yeah, but if she knew we needed her back here…’

‘Let’s sleep on it, eh?’ he said, standing up. It had been an exhausting day, and he needed some time alone to think.

Stacey grabbed her jacket and satchel as Iris headed their way.

They both already knew better than to hang around when Iris wanted to get things done.

She was dusting the keyboards before they’d even reached the door.

They were almost at the bottom of the stairs when Bryant heard a familiar voice.

‘I haven’t done anything,’ the voice cried. ‘I’d never hurt Jasmine. I swear to you I’ve done nothing wrong. Ask Roy – he’ll tell you.’