Page 17 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Sixteen

Kim got a sinking feeling as she entered the squad room. Not only was the Blackpool team already in full attendance, but also they looked like they’d been there for some time.

She pointedly looked at her watch as Red did the same.

‘Good afternoon,’ he said smugly.

‘We’re not late,’ she snapped, realising she’d fallen for the oldest trick in the book. ‘You said the briefing was at seven thirty.’

‘You must have misheard. I said six thirty.’

‘No. You definitely?—’

‘He said six thirty. I was right behind him,’ Roy said, lounging back in his chair.

Kim knew this was an argument she wasn’t going to win.

‘Not our fault you Brummie lot can’t get up and dressed on time,’ Roy said, trying to soften his snide comment with a smirk.

‘But at least when we do arrive, we’re properly dressed,’ she said, fixing her gaze on the unfastened button on his shirt and the tie knot hanging two inches away from his collar.

He tried to keep the false smile on his face as he fastened his button but failed.

‘Well, we’re here now. What did we miss?’ she asked, taking a seat.

Her team followed suit behind her.

‘We’re all done now. No need to go through it all again. Definitely two separate cases, and?—’

‘You’re sure about that?’ Kim asked. ‘Two boys of a similar age gone missing in ten days and they aren’t linked?’

Red shook his head. ‘We don’t think so. All evidence indicates Lewis Stevens is a runaway, so there’s no point muddying the waters with cross-briefings. The chief has given you instructions, so?—’

‘Yeah, but I’d really like a catch-up anyway,’ Kim said, adopting her best insistent tone.

From the corner of her eye she saw Bryant offer a small shake of the head at her actions.

He was playing his part well, showing subtle frustration at her behaviour.

‘You’ve got to stop assuming Lewis is a runaway,’ she continued. ‘If we share information?—’

‘Does look better for the figures if he ran away though, boss,’ Penn interrupted. ‘It’s what I’d do to keep my incident rate down.’

Kim shot him daggers, as would be expected of her, but it was a nice move on his part. Presenting them with the illusion of a fractured team could only help make them more accessible.

Stacey bit her lip and stared at the ground.

‘Why has no one spoken to Roderick Skidmore?’ Kim asked pointedly.

‘They’re not his type,’ Roy said quickly. ‘He likes them a bit younger.’

‘But you spoke to him and pinpointed his location just to rule him out, didn’t you?’ she pushed. Surely it was just the paper statement that was missing?

‘Like Roy said, waste of time getting a formal statement,’ Red offered testily. ‘We know our own paedophiles, Inspector, and Skidmore has nothing to do with this.’

‘Not sure your sex offenders differ greatly from our own, but I do know they’re the first people we rule out.’ She paused. ‘We’ll be following that up too.’

Red looked like he wanted to say something and then changed his mind.

Kim continued. ‘Any reason why only a handful of teachers and students were interviewed at Lewis’s school?’

‘We were getting the same answers from all of them so it was a?—’

‘Waste of time,’ she finished for him. ‘Dying to know what you did with all that time you saved.’

Red’s expression was darkening every time she opened her mouth. She hoped she was annoying him. She didn’t like sneak attacks. If they were going to be enemies, she preferred open warfare and a combatant with big-enough balls to face her head-on. He was annoyed and she wasn’t even finished.

‘You interviewed Lewis’s brother at length though, right?’

Red didn’t answer.

‘Seeing as we’ve been told he likes to take his younger brother a few miles away and dump him.’

‘It was a prank,’ Roy offered, indicating that they did know about it. ‘He was just teaching the kid a lesson.’

‘So you’ve asked him formally if he did it again and something went wrong this time?’

Red looked at his watch. ‘We need to…’

So that was clearly a no as well, she realised.

‘Okay, last question, why did you write him off as a runaway so quickly? I mean, I assume that’s why it’s barely been investigated. Is it because his parents said so?’

‘He’s got form for it,’ Red answered. ‘He’s run away three times before. He had a few quid in his pocket. He’d been in trouble again and he needed to cool off. He’ll be back. You’ll see.’

And then you’re going to feel like an idiot , were the unspoken words that hung between them.

Rather that than find his body, Kim thought but realised she was wasting her breath. They were locked into their conviction that Lewis was going to suddenly reappear.

If she wanted a thorough investigation, she was going to have to do it herself.

She stood. ‘Okay, guys, thanks. We’ll catch up later.’

She headed into their war room, and her team followed behind.

‘Well?’ Kim asked, standing with her back to the squad room as they took their seats.

‘Safe to say we’re not gonna be swapping numbers after this, but good old Roy gave me a couple of secret eyerolls, so he definitely thinks I’m in his camp,’ Bryant offered.

‘And the others?’ Kim asked, looking at Stacey and Penn.

‘Adil is waiting,’ Stacey said. ‘He watches everything and is just waiting for someone to put them in their place. For every blow you land, he hides a micro expression of triumph. Carly is uncomfortable. She shifts slightly in her seat a lot as though she wants her chair to fall through the floor. I wouldn’t mind a conversation with her. ’

‘Dickinson is interesting,’ Penn continued. ‘He’s completely unruffled and seems to enjoy the conflict. He’s relaxed and happy to be a spectator, but there’s a faint look of distaste every time Roy opens his mouth.’

‘Any thoughts on potential internal complainants?’ she asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

‘There’s always the chance it’s not from inside,’ Kim said.

‘But keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, our focus is firmly on Lewis and bringing him home. Stace, I want photos on the board of family, suspects and anyone else of interest, cos right now we’re the only ones who seem to care about this kid. ’

One way or another, she was going to find out what happened to Lewis, and she intended to return to the people that were supposed to be closest to him.

His family.