Page 149 of Silent Scream

She rolled her eyes. ‘Woody’s order and I dare not ignore any more ‘cos this cat's on its last life.’

‘Is that what he said?’

She nodded and counted off her fingers. ‘Apparently I notched up two formal complaints about my attitude. I disregarded direct instructions on three occasions and failed to follow correct protocols ...’ she counted off the rest of her fingers, ‘... well, at least that many times.’

Bryant's head fell into his waiting hands. ‘Oh Lord, was it brutal?’

Kim thought for a moment and nodded. ‘Yeah, pretty much. He had quite a lot to say.’

‘And what did you say?’

‘I told him that his model was missing the cantilever springs from the rear axle.’

Bryant roared with laughter and she joined in. She supposed it was kind of funny in hindsight.

But it was her way of saying thank you. She was under no illusion that she should have lost her job. And Woody had been clear that it was only the results that had saved her.

Had even one of her hunches been wrong, The Bowl would now belong to someone else.

This case had brought her closer to losing the most important thing in her life and yet it had been worth it.

‘How long has he given you for the other thing?’

Kim growled as she took down two mugs from the cupboard. ‘A month.’

‘Jeez, how you gonna get out of that?’

Kim shrugged. She had four weeks to speak with a psychologist or face suspension.

‘You don’t think he’d actually go through with it, do you?’

Kim recalled the resolute expression on Woody’s face. ‘Oh yeah, he’ll do it.’

‘Well, you’ll be pleased to know that Richard Croft was looking much better earlier.’

‘He was?’

‘Well, he was until I read him his rights.’

Kim would have liked to have been there for that. ‘Oh, do tell me that Mrs Croft was present?’

‘She most certainly was. For a few seconds she bore a resemblance to a constipated camel but she recovered quickly enough to gather up her laptop and paperwork, stating that her lawyer will be in touch.’

‘With us?’

‘With Richard. I smell a speedy divorce somewhere in his future.’

‘What did he say?’

‘Oh, he confirmed that Victor was the one that killed Beth. The rest of them just helped bury the body. He said it was the idea of Teresa Wyatt to start the fire to cause confusion with the records and the runaways and the girls who had already been relocated.’

‘Do you believe him?’

‘I dunno. Doesn’t really matter. He’ll get a decent lawyer, but he’ll do jail time without a doubt. More importantly, his life as he knew it is over. His wife, house, career and probably his kids are gone.’

Kim didn't speak. There was nothing to say. She felt nothing but revulsion for Richard Croft. He had escaped with his life.

Bryant looked thoughtful. ‘Do you reckon Victor Wilks is all bad? I mean, I know what he's done but he worked the estate and stuff so maybe there was some good in him.’