Page 9 of Little Children

‘Yeah, but I don’t think any of them are chasing clues around the seafront on the bidding of a bloody jester,’ Roy said.

Kim saw Bryant hide a smile behind scratching his nose. Nice move. If she’d seen it, then members of the other team had seen it too.

From the lack of surprise on any of their faces, Kim realised that they all knew this ambush was coming from the team’s mouthpiece. More concerning was that the man in charge was openly waiting for her response. If one of her team members had been so rude, they’d have been hearing about it directly from her. But every DI managed their team differently.

‘If you’re talking about the case where we successfully located a world class surgeon and returned her to the hospital to save a little girl’s life, then yes, that was our case. Maybe if you weren’t paying so much attention to cases outside your remit you’d have a better chance of solving your own.’ She paused. ‘Now, would someone like to show us where we’re going to be working?’

So much for not making enemies straight away.

Red hesitated as though he wanted the show to continue. Eventually, he headed towards a room off the main squad room. He opened the door to reveal one large round table holding a laptop and a pile of access cards on lanyards.

The room was half the size of their own squad room back home.

‘One person will be given access to our system, and the protocols will need to be signed.’

Kim pointed to Stacey to indicate that she was their designated person.

‘Okay, I’ll leave you to get settled, and I’ll let the boss know you’re here.’

Kim nodded as he closed the door.

She turned to Stacey. ‘To answer your earlier question, I think they’re overjoyed that we’ve come to help.’

Five

The first thing Kim noticed when she entered DCI Miranda Walker’s office was that the woman looked tired.

Kim wasn’t surprised. Policing in Blackpool wasn’t a walk in the park. They faced their own problems back in the Black Country, but Blackpool now ranked as one of the most deprived areas in the UK. Despite the 20 million visitors a year, it was mostly a seasonal town with a high transient population.

Like mining towns, it had grown around an industry that was in decline. Back in its heyday, people had travelled there for a week’s holiday. The appearance of the cheap foreign holiday had impacted the place considerably, relegating it to a venue that serviced the stag and hen crowd and the day-trippers.

In addition to the problems Kim faced back home, this team had the added headache of thousands of tourists rocking up every weekend.

‘Take a seat, Inspector,’ Walker said, pointing to one of the easy chairs.

The chief left her place behind the desk and came to join her. Kim guessed her to be mid-fifties; she had short salt-and-pepper hair, stylishly cut. Although a little drawn, her face was lightly tanned and attractive. She wore a pair of stud earrings – sapphires that matched the colour of her trouser suit.

‘Thank you for coming. DCI Woodward is an old friend.’

‘From training days, he said.’

The chief nodded. ‘He has my absolute trust, and I’m hoping I can extend that to you.’

‘Of course,’ Kim said. Respect wasn’t won automatically from her, but the seedlings were there for this woman. She was a northern success story, according to the reports she’d read during the journey north. Born to a drug-addicted mother, both she and her younger sister had been drug dependent on arrival.

Despite trying to keep the family together, Child Services had removed both children from the home when Miranda was eight and her sister was five. Thereafter followed a series of foster homes for both, until Miranda reached maturity and took control of her own life.

Kim suspected the woman’s childhood hadn’t been too far removed from her own.

She’d always felt that somehow she’d avoided the person she was supposed to be, that fate had set her up to be an aggressive, hateful, drug-fuelled person who’d die by overdose. Fate had decreed that, but she had dodged it, and she felt this woman had too. From the early cards they’d been dealt, they could both have been living very different lives.

‘Had your work cut out on that last case, eh?’ the chief asked.

Was there anyone who hadn’t watched their wild goose chase around the country? Kim wondered.

The chief held up her hand. ‘I don’t expect an answer. It was an impossible situation. You had no choice but to follow his instructions.’

Kim nodded her agreement.