Page 26 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Twenty-Five

‘Oh, Jesus,’ Kim said, reaching for her phone as Bryant pulled up outside the home of the third person on the list.

They were two streets back from the Promenade, and the house was in a row of four at the end of some boarded-up shops.

‘Wassup?’ Bryant asked, glancing down at her phone, which had just tinged a message. ‘Is it your bestie again?’

‘Bryant,’ she warned him.

‘Okay, sorry. Is it Frost?’

‘Yep,’ she said with a long sigh.

‘What now?’

‘She wants to know where I am and what time I’m finishing work.’

‘Why?’

‘I think the beer and wine glass emojis might be a clue.’

‘Guv, I am really trying not to find this situation amusing,’ Bryant admitted.

‘And failing miserably,’ she said, tapping out a response.

‘What did you say?’

‘Mind your own bloody business,’ she said, getting out of the car. He was enjoying her predicament far too much for her to keep him fully updated.

The reality was she was receiving more messages than she was sharing with Bryant and responding to them too, all because she didn’t know how to tell the woman the truth.

She’d think about that later, she resolved as they walked up the path towards what looked like a crack house.

The door was opened before they even reached it.

‘You raiding?’ asked a guy in his early twenties, wearing only boxer shorts.

Kim shook her head and produced her identification. He didn’t even look at it.

‘Sallright,’ he shouted over his shoulder.

‘Pippa Jacobs live here?’

‘Should think so – it’s her place,’ the guy said before calling over his shoulder again. ‘Pip, some coppers are here.’

She heard a rustling of movement from the space behind.

He rolled his eyes as he called backwards again. ‘They ain’t raiding – I already told you once.’

‘May we come in?’ Kim asked.

‘It’s not my place,’ he said, indicating he wasn’t going to move out of the way.

If they were raiding, there were no prizes for guessing what they’d find.

The natural police officer in her wanted to storm in and arrest every drug taker in her way, but this wasn’t her area and it wasn’t her problem to solve.

The police clearly knew about it as this woman was the third name on the list – she must have interacted with the CID team.

‘Where’s the usuals then?’ the man asked, looking them up and down.

‘Get raided a lot, do you?’ Bryant asked.

‘Pretty regular. Weekly.’

Kim was prevented from asking the obvious question as a woman appeared behind him.

Kim guessed her to be late twenties with a five-year margin either way.

Her gaunt frame and prominent cheekbones signalled she was a user.

But it was more than that. There was a deadness in her eyes that Kim rarely saw.

‘What do you want?’ she asked, stepping in front of the man who’d opened the door. ‘All right, Chase, go back in.’

He looked directly at Bryant. ‘Nah, I’ll hang around.’

‘I’m good. Bugger off,’ she said, nudging him aside.

After a final dark look at Bryant, Chase turned and left the hallway.

Bryant cast Kim a questioning glance. She didn’t know what was going on either, but there was a hint of nausea rising in her stomach.

‘You get raided much?’ Kim asked, repeating her question now that Chase was gone.

‘Plenty. What’s it to you?’

‘On what charges?’

Pippa shrugged. ‘No charges. Now what do you want?’

There was a remoteness about her that Kim found unnerving, and it had nothing to do with drugs. She was broken. Something inside her had shrivelled up and died.

‘Do you get busted for prostitution or drugs?’ Kim asked.

‘None of your business. Now ask a different question or fuck off.’

A picture was starting to form in her mind, and it sickened her.

‘The same folks keep raiding you?’

Pippa’s face hardened, and she nodded before looking down at her feet.

Broken or not, she still felt shame.

‘Moss or Butler?’ Kim asked.

‘Moss, but I don’t want no bother. I’ve got a transfer,’ she said, nodding towards the house. ‘I’m swapping with a couple who’ve got a flat in Lytham next week, so I really don’t want any hassle.’

Kim nodded her understanding.

‘So, what are your questions?’ Pippa asked, biting her lip.

‘My mistake, Miss Jacobs. I actually have no questions. Sorry to have bothered you and hope your move goes well.’

The woman frowned as they moved away, and she closed the door.

‘Well, that was a waste of bloody time, wasn’t it? What are you playing at?’ Bryant asked as they headed for the car.

‘I didn’t feel the need to force her to relive it. She feels shitty enough.’

‘Guv, I’ve got no idea what?—’

‘Think about it. Follow the clues. She’s a prostitute. She does it to fund her drug addiction. She gets raided every week by the same person and yet she’s not arrested or charged with any crime. Why not?’

‘Aww, shit,’ Bryant said as the penny dropped. ‘He’s demanding sexual favours for silence.’

‘That’s a nice way of putting it. He’s threatening her with charges for sex. He’s the worst kind of?—’

‘And you want me to befriend this guy? Act like I’ve got something in common with him?’ he asked, revulsion pouring out of him.

Kim nodded as her phone rang. It wasn’t her first choice to put Bryant in the man’s company, but it was their best chance of witnessing something that could be used against him.

‘Go ahead, Stace,’ she answered.

‘Boss, you might want to do a revisit. Someone isn’t telling you the truth.’