Page 15 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Fourteen

It was almost nine when Bryant pulled into the car park of the station. When they approached the door, the entire Blackpool team was leaving.

‘Was it something we said?’ Kim joked as they passed.

Red smiled as Roy simply barged past.

‘The on-call team and night shift have been briefed. Nothing more to be done tonight, and we gotta sleep sometime.’

She tried not to think critically of his team management.

He was correct that personnel welfare was a priority.

But when you had two missing boys, you could push the boundaries of clocking in and out and the tolerance of your team.

She was further surprised to see that the hard day wasn’t showing on his appearance.

He looked as smart and presentable as he had when she’d first seen him hours ago.

The remaining three members of the team offered curt nods as they went by.

Jesus, the warning not to interact must have been a stern one. She had yet to hear any of them speak.

‘And you’ll get yourselves off pretty sharpish or suffer the wrath of Iris,’ Red went on, offering a wave before leaving them to ponder what he’d said.

They made their way up to the squad room and his words made sense.

She guessed that the woman in her mid-fifties with the cleaning cart was Iris. Kim offered her a smile as she entered their war room, and then she nodded to Bryant to update Stacey and Penn on their progress so far.

Glancing out through the open door, Kim couldn’t help but marvel at the woman in the squad room, who was attacking her job with vigour and efficiency. All the dusting had been done, and she was now dragging a Henry vacuum around at speed.

An occasional glance told Kim she was checking for signs of them leaving.

‘And that’s about it from us unless you have anything more to add,’ Bryant said, raising an eyebrow at her.

‘No, we’re good. Stace, what’s your view on the CCTV? Worth pursuing? Looks like the arcade has plenty of scope.’

Stacey considered before nodding. ‘The parameters they used were too narrow. We know Lewis entered and then left almost half an hour later. Don’t know what he did.

Don’t know who he spoke to. Don’t even know if any of the cameras on the other entrances might have caught his direction of travel or any other interactions.

I’d like to speak to the arcade tomorrow and see what I can find. ’

Kim nodded her agreement, wondering why this hadn’t been done already.

‘Penn?’ she said as Iris unplugged the vacuum and glanced their way again.

‘Not happy with the statements, boss. Definitely not enough people spoken to at the school, either teachers or students.’

‘Okay, I think—’ Kim stopped speaking as her phone tinged receipt of a text message.

She glanced at it quickly and saw immediately it was a compilation of funny kitten videos with a row of laughing emojis underneath. She groaned as she put her phone back in her pocket but not before she caught Bryant’s frown.

‘I think we also need more canvassing at Coral Island. There are lots of staff. Someone might remember him.’

Kim glanced again at Iris, who was hovering close to the door. She strode over and stood in the doorway. ‘Feel free to start.’

Iris shook her head. ‘Not while you’re still working.’ She tapped her right ear. ‘Might hear something I shouldn’t.’

‘Okay, two minutes,’ Kim said, closing the door.

‘Penn?’ she asked.

‘There’s a local paedophile. Registered sex offender. His name has come up a couple of times in the statements. Obviously he’s gonna be the first name on everyone’s lips, but I can’t see that he was even spoken to.’

Shouldn’t that have been the first port of call?

‘Okay, folks, best get moving or Iris is going to physically remove us, judging by the look on her face.’

They began to collect their things and headed for the door.

‘It’s all yours,’ Kim said as they made their way through the squad room.

The woman was in there with her Henry before they were out of sight.

‘Get some food, get some rest and meet downstairs at the hotel for breakfast at six thirty.’

They all nodded their understanding as Stacey got into Penn’s car and she followed Bryant.

‘Not impressed at the lack of thoroughness of the investigation so far,’ Bryant said, driving away from the station. ‘They’ve had ten bloody days.’

‘Agreed. We’re gonna be asking some uncomfortable questions at the group briefing tomorrow.’

‘Talking of uncomfortable questions, are you ever gonna tell me who’s blowing up your phone?’

‘You do realise it might be private. Maybe I’m seeing someone.’

‘End it,’ Bryant said emphatically.

‘Excuse me?’

‘Given that your face shows extreme irritation every time you get a text, there ain’t gonna be no happy ending.’

Kim sighed heavily. Maybe it would help to share the problem, and he was the closest thing she had to a friend.

He pulled up in the hotel car park and waited.

‘Okay, I’ll tell you who the messages are from.’