Page 96 of Silent Scream

‘Not for me to say and I will not speculate.’

‘Understood, Victor,’ Bryant soothed. ‘Please continue.’

‘Mary Andrews was a no-nonsense type of woman who probably gave the girls the majority of attention. She was firm but loving and available too. It wasn’t just a job to Mary.’

‘And Arthur?’

Victor laughed. ‘Oh, Arthur Connop; I’d almost forgotten about him. A rather unfortunate individual, I always felt. I often wondered what must have happened in his life to make him so bitter and hostile. Strange little man, didn’t like anyone.’

‘Particularly William Payne?’ Bryant asked.

Victor scrunched up his nose. ‘Oh, I don’t think it was anything personal. William is a difficult person to dislike. I think Arthur resented the fact that the rest of the staff did things to help William out now and again. He didn't like anyone getting anything he wasn’t.’

‘How did he interact with the girls?’

‘Who, Arthur? Not at all. He hated every single one of them. Because of his nature he was an easy target. They would play tricks on him, hide his tools, that kind of thing.’

‘Did they play tricks on William?’

Victor thought for a moment. Something crossed his face but he shook his head.

‘Not really, because William worked the night shift so his contact with the girls was minimal.’

Kim sat forward. There was something he was not telling them.

‘What can you tell us about the girls there?’

He sat back. ‘They weren’t a bad bunch. Some of them were there only temporarily due to some kind of family situation. Some were placed in care following accusations of child abuse. Others stayed until another family member claimed them and a few had no family members at all.’

‘Do you remember twin girls; Nicola and Bethany?’

A smile came to his eyes. ‘Oh yes. They were beautiful little girls. If I remember correctly, Nicola was the more outgoing of the two. Bethany often hid behind her sister and let her do the talking.

‘They didn’t mix much with the other girls. I suppose because they had each other.’

‘So, there were no problem girls?’ Kim asked. It didn’t sound like any of the children’s homes she’d been in.

‘Of course there were tougher girls. Young ladies that could not be reached. There were three girls in particular ... I’m sorry, I don’t remember their names. They were bad enough separately but once they came together they became a tight little group. They fed off each other and caused all kinds of trouble; stealing, smoking, boys. He looked away. ‘And other things.’

‘What other things?’ Bryant asked.

‘It’s not really for me to say.’

‘Did they hurt someone?’ Kim interjected.

Victor got up and stood at the window. ‘Not so much physically, Detective.’

‘How then?’ she asked, looking towards Bryant.

Victor sighed heavily. ‘They were crueller than most, especially together.’

‘What did they do?’ Kim pushed.

Victor remained at the window. ‘One of the girls lived locally and knew of Lucy. One day the three of them offered to play with the child while William ran some errands.

‘Being a completely trusting person, William took the opportunity to go to the supermarket. When he returned barely an hour later the girls were nowhere to be found and neither was Lucy.

‘He searched the house from top to bottom.’