Page 14 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Thirteen

Kim had felt it necessary to visit the last place Lewis Stevens had been seen before he disappeared.

From the second she’d walked in, her senses had been assaulted.

Flashing lights blinked at her from every direction.

Rows of fruit machines, grabbers, games and rides screamed different noises at her, vying for her attention.

Horses raced across a track as people threw balls into holes to win giant cuddly toys.

Smells from the eateries wafted all around the huge space.

She tried to say something to Bryant, but he shook his head, pointing to his ear as a family shrieked in delight at a machine that was spitting out a stream of tickets.

From the kiosk she’d just passed, she guessed that tickets meant prizes.

The upper level was home to more of the same but with sectioned-off areas for adults only.

‘It’s a far cry from the arcades they had when I was a kid,’ Bryant shouted in her ear as they found a quieter spot by one of the exits.

‘Difficult to make all this back in the Stone Age,’ she said, looking around.

‘Harsh, guv, harsh.’

She could certainly see the appeal of the place. It was loud, it was busy; people were getting bumped and nudged all over the place. Hard-working folks were letting off steam with their kids for a few days. A short holiday before folks accepted the inevitability of winter and Christmas.

The shrieks and laughter were punctuated by the sound of coins dropping into trays.

The place was alive with fun and excitement.

She could understand why Stacey had reported that the security team had been unable to locate Lewis on the video footage inside. Trying to pick out the child amongst this lot would be a task and a half.

And yet it could be done, she thought, taking another look around. There seemed to be decent coverage from a CCTV point of view. If someone cared enough to go through the cameras, they’d find the boy somewhere.

‘Come on – let’s go,’ she said to Bryant, heading for the exit. She’d seen all she needed to see. The kid had been given a fiver to go and amuse himself, and he’d come here.

Something she was sure he wouldn’t have done if he’d been planning to run away.