Page 30 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Twenty-Nine

It always felt surreal to Kim when they visited the same property at both ends of the day.

Their meeting with the Stevens family had been their first of the day. Darkness was now falling around them, yet they still didn’t have a clue where Lewis was.

‘Gonna start charging you lot rent,’ Bobby Stevens grumbled, stepping aside for them to enter.

Kim was doing her absolute best to keep in mind that this was the family of a missing boy. Either her empathy tank was running on fumes, or the vibes they were giving off didn’t match the distraught and concerned family dynamic she usually encountered.

‘No, we haven’t found him yet,’ Kim said pointedly, entering the home. ‘I’m sure that was going to be your next question.’

‘Not really. I’ve already said that he’ll be found when he wants to be.’

‘Mr Stevens, why are you so convinced he’ll turn up safe and sound?’

‘He’s a resourceful kid,’ he said, heading into the kitchen.

Unlike the day before, they appeared to have caught the tail end of teatime. Shirley was putting away the dishes, and Kim could hear the younger kids squabbling over the remote control in the other room.

Free to speak openly, Kim continued. ‘But did he take anything? Clothes, shoes, money, valuables? When kids run away, they normally take a few bare essentials, even if it’s just some bags of crisps and a chocolate bar.’

She was no longer content to let Lewis’s parents bury themselves in ignorance.

Bobby Stevens shrugged as Shirley turned and leaned against the countertop.

‘You want to destroy our hope of getting him back?’ she asked.

‘I want you to be realistic about where he is. Most runaways, even the ones that return quickly, undertake some kind of planning. Maybe they pack one bag with some favourite things; they definitely take a few items of clothing. Lewis took nothing. He walked out of the arcade and just disappeared.’

‘Red and Roy agree with us,’ Shirley defended herself.

After the day Kim had had, those were two names she didn’t really want to hear, and the statement was no recommendation.

‘Did you know there was a known paedophile in Coral Island at the exact same time as Lewis?’

‘Wh…what?’ Shirley asked.

‘Not that fucking Skidmore bloke?’ Bobby asked. ‘He’s in that arcade all the time. He’d have no interest in Lewis.’

Kim wasn’t yet prepared to reveal that they knew Lewis had had an exchange with someone in the car park, but she was having trouble stomaching everyone’s dismissal of a known sex offender.

If they could get a shot of Skidmore anywhere near the car park, she’d haul him in herself with or without Red’s authorisation.

‘We haven’t yet established any contact between them…But that’s not actually why we’re here.’

‘Why then?’ Shirley asked, frowning.

‘Could we just speak to Kevin for a minute?’ Kim asked.

Bobby stepped into the hallway and called the boy’s name.

‘Why can’t you ask us?’ Bobby asked as footsteps sounded on the stairs.

This man clearly liked to know everything that was going on.

It was as though he wanted to answer questions directed to every member of the household.

Why would he need that level of control over what his family might happen to say?

Kim wondered. She ignored his efforts to control the interview and said nothing in response.

Kevin appeared in the doorway but didn’t come into the room.

‘Got a minute, Kevin?’ she asked.

He nodded.

‘Do you want to do this with or without your parents?’

‘It’s fine,’ he said after just a second’s hesitation, giving Kim the impression he might prefer without. But as he was a minor, she was on dodgy ground trying to insist. Especially as he’d now stated he wanted them present and from the looks on their faces they weren’t going anywhere.

‘Okay, Kevin, why didn’t you tell us you saw Lewis again after he left the house?’

His parents looked at each other and then at Kevin, eager to hear the answer.

‘I just wanted to talk some sense into him. He was being a little shit.’

‘Is that why you hit him?’ Kim asked.

She was rewarded with expressions of surprise on all three faces.

Kevin had to know now that the whole exchange had been caught on camera.

‘I hit him cos he wouldn’t listen. He kept saying he was gonna run away,’ he said, looking to his parents.

‘Told you,’ Bobby said.

‘He was talking about running away at that table and you didn’t bother to tell anyone?’ Kim asked.

‘Bloody knew it,’ Bobby heckled again.

‘Everybody assumed it anyway so there was no point,’ Kevin said, chewing his lower lip.

Kim wasn’t finding this story particularly believable.

‘Why did you offer him your phone?’ she asked.

The question caught him off guard.

‘I, err…told him to call a taxi if he wanted to run away that badly.’

His story wasn’t getting any more believable.

‘How was he supposed to afford that?’ Kim asked. ‘He had less than a fiver in his pocket.’

Kevin shrugged and stared at the ground.

‘And you never saw him again once you left the café?’

He shook his head.

Kim was all out of questions, but she was sure she hadn’t got all the right answers.

She stood to leave.

‘Hey, make sure you’re back in time to tuck us in,’ Bobby joked as she headed for the front door.

For some reason, she thought she detected a note of relief in his tone.

As the door closed behind them, Kim knew she had to consider that Kevin had played some role in his brother’s disappearance. He’d been angry enough to strike him, and he could have been waiting for him somewhere along the route home. It wasn’t like he hadn’t taken his brother off somewhere before.

But then why had Bobby sounded relieved after her exchange with Kevin, as though he was pleased that the boy hadn’t revealed something?

Why hadn’t Kevin told either his parents or the police that he’d seen Lewis again?

And why had he blatantly lied about the conversation that had taken place between them in the amusement arcade?

Yes, it was official – she now had more questions than she’d had when she’d got there.