Page 23 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Twenty-Two

Stanley Park was located one and a half miles from the centre of Blackpool and seemed to be doing a roaring trade on this crisp, bright October day. The swings, climbing frames and roundabouts were full of kids of all ages wrapped up in hats and scarves.

Except for one red-faced kid who looked bigger than the others and was throwing rocks at the metal bin.

Looking around, Penn guessed that was the boy he was here to see and that his mum was the woman on the bench handing a pack of sweets to a younger child.

The younger child ran back towards the seesaw as he approached.

‘Mrs Davis?’ he asked.

She nodded.

When asked if there was any child in particular Lewis had been close to, his form teacher had mentioned a boy named Danny Davis. Being the helpful woman she was, Brenda had made a call to the boy’s mother to see if he could meet up with them for a chat.

‘Thanks for seeing me,’ he said, taking a seat. He took out his ID automatically.

‘I believe you,’ she said without looking at it. ‘We’re between meal deals anyway.’

‘Meal deals?’

‘We had breakfast at Morrisons where the kids ate for free, and tea will be at Asda where I can get them a hot meal for a pound. In between, if it’s not raining, we come here. Not everyone can afford to spend time in town even if they live here.’

Penn couldn’t imagine walking around all the shops, arcades and attractions with two kids and no money in your pocket.

‘Danny, I assume,’ he said, nodding towards the bored-looking kid thirty feet away.

‘Yeah, just follow the scowl.’

‘May I?’ Penn asked.

She nodded for him to continue while she focussed on the younger one, who had now moved to the climbing frame.

Penn approached and sat down on the grass close to the boy.

‘You Danny?’ he asked, offering his hand.

The boy ignored it and picked up another stone.

‘Did your mum tell you why I wanted a chat?’

‘To talk about Lewis?’

‘Yeah. You’re a friend of his?’

Danny shrugged. ‘Not really. Lewis hasn’t got any friends. The others take the pi—I mean take the mickey cos he messes in bins and smells sometimes.’

‘But you talk to him now and again?’

‘I sit by him in form. I got no choice,’ he said, throwing a stone at the bin. He hit it.

Penn picked up a rock and threw it. He missed. He tried again. And missed.

‘You’re not doing it right,’ Danny said as some of the scowl melted away. ‘You gotta focus on the bin and throw beyond it.’

‘Ah, okay,’ Penn said before trying again. This time he hit it and got himself a warning glance from the boy’s mother.

‘Everybody says Lewis has run away. Do you think they’re right?’ Penn asked, dusting off his hands.

Danny shrugged. ‘Don’t think so.’

‘He’d done it before, hadn’t he?’ Penn asked.

‘Yeah, ages ago, but he didn’t like it very much. Said he was lonely and a bit scared at night.’

‘How long was he gone?’

‘Two days, I think. One was a Sunday, so he only missed one day of school. I’d have run away in the week and missed two days of school.’

Lewis had now been gone for so much longer than that, yet everyone still seemed to believe that the kid was going to walk back in the door with dirty clothes, an empty stomach and a mouth full of sorrys.

‘Is he happy at home?’ Penn asked.

‘His brother’s a bit of a dick, and his mum ignores him, and his stepdad gets pretty riled up when he fights and stuff.’

‘But you don’t know of anything that would make him take off again?’

Danny shook his head.

‘How about being followed or approached by strangers? Did he mention anything like that?’

‘You mean like paedos?’

It was a shame that twelve-year-olds had to know about stuff like that.

‘Yeah, that kind of thing.’

Again, Danny shook his head, but for the first time he turned and looked at him. ‘He’s dead, you know.’

‘Wh…what?’ Penn asked, astounded.

‘He told me his parents wanted him gone.’

Penn calmed down.

‘Most kids think that about their parents,’ he said. ‘You’ve probably felt the same way. You’ve probably annoyed them and thought they wanted you gone, eh?’

Danny shrugged and turned away again. ‘Yeah, but Lewis actually heard them talking about how they were going to do it.’