Page 86 of Silent Scream

‘Miss Adamson, we have reason to believe that the body we’ve discovered within the grounds is possibly one of the Crestwood occupants.’

‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘You’re not serious.’

‘Is there anything you can recall about your time there that would help us?’

Nicola’s eyes were busy as though searching her memories. Neither she nor Bryant spoke.

Slowly, Nicola began to shake her head. ‘I honestly can’t think of anything. Beth and I kept to ourselves. There is nothing I can offer.’

‘How about your sister? Do you think she would be able to help?’

Nicola shrugged just as Kim’s mobile began to ring. Two seconds later, Bryant’s sounded. They both fumbled and cut off the calls.

‘Sorry about that,’ Bryant offered. ‘You were saying?’

‘Maybe Beth can recall something. She is staying with me at the moment.’ Nicola checked her watch. ‘She should be home in about half an hour if you’d like to wait.’

Kim’s phone began to vibrate in her pocket. ‘No, that will be fine,’ she said, standing.

Bryant followed suit and offered his hand. ‘If you do think of anything, please give us a call.’

‘Of course,’ she said, walking them to the door.

Kim turned, willing to take a long shot. ‘Do you remember any of the girls having a particular fondness for beads?’

‘Beads?’

‘Perhaps a bracelet?’

Nicola thought for a moment and then clasped her hand over her mouth.

‘Yes, yes, there was a girl called Melanie. She was older than me so I didn’t know her very well. She was one of the “cool” girls, one of the troublemakers.’

Kim held her breath.

‘Yes, now I remember the beads. She gave some to her best friends. They were like a little club.’

Nicola began to nod her head. ‘Yes, of course, there were three of them. They all had the beads.’

Kim felt the sinking in her stomach. She was willing to bet that all three of them ran away.

Forty-Two

‘Shit,’ Bryant said as they got into the car.

Kim felt sick. ‘You thinking what I’m thinking?’

‘If it’s that there’s possibly another body to find, then yes.’

‘Insert the wordprobablyfor possibly and we’re pretty much bang on.’ Kim put the seatbelt on and turned. ‘You wrote those names down, right?’

Bryant nodded as she took out her phone. He followed suit.

‘Two missed calls and a message from Dawson,’ she said.

‘Mine are from Woody.’

They both keyed into their mailboxes. Kim listened to Dawson’s excitable voice and then deleted the message.