Page 115 of Stolen Ones

Kim fought the frustration that her plea of ‘because I said so’ was falling on deaf ears.

‘Okay, read her file properly. Take the time to completely understand the type of person you’re dealing with. Look at every situation and find the ulterior motive. Please just do these things before you make a final decision. You know your recommendation holds a lot of weight with the board.’

Siviter hesitated before nodding. ‘I’ll take a look.’

Kim thanked her and got into the car with the weight of uncertainty heavy on her shoulders.

She had done her best to keep the evil woman behind bars.

She just hoped it was enough.

Sixty-Nine

‘Everybody rested?’ Kim asked. It was a minute after seven, the coffee was made, Penn’s Tupperware box of Rocky Road pieces was open and a slab of it was already sitting on Alison’s desk.

‘Stace, she means you,’ Penn said with a wink.

‘Am I missing something?’ Kim asked.

‘Devon got home last night,’ Alison offered.

‘Aaaaah, got it.’

‘Pack it in, you lot. There was sleep. Some.’

Kim smiled. The detective constable was certainly beaming this morning.

Her own night hadn’t been as restful as she’d have liked. After walking Barney around midnight, she’d tried to spend an hour in the garage on the Vincent, but her mind had been completely besieged by thoughts of Alex, mingled with the fear for a little girl who had now been away from her family for almost seventy-two hours.

‘I want her home today,’ Kim blurted out.

No one needed clarification who she meant.

‘Any luck with Land Registry?’ she asked.

‘Two thirds of our target area dismissed,’ Penn answered. ‘A very helpful lady called Sophie has a linked database with algorithms and grid references that can narrow down—’

‘Fantastic, Penn,’ Kim said, cutting him off with a half-smile. ‘Stacey, I want you on the location, and Penn, keep working on the password to the phone. If he has Grace on it, there may be some clue as to where she is.’

‘Will do, boss.’

‘I’ve forwarded the list of places visited by Claire and Grace to you all. Obvious front runners for me would be the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham and the butterfly farm in Stratford-upon-Avon. Given his love of all things beautiful I’d start there. Divide it up between yourselves.’

Both Stacey and Penn nodded.

‘Boss, I’ve sent all the dental records I’ve collected to Keats,’ Stacey said.

Kim nodded. She’d received a text that both Keats and Doctor A would be at Wyley Court at six to begin the recovery. Stacey’s efforts in locating dental records could help speed up the process of identification.

‘Boss, I’ve found no other sizeable projects that Butler and Harte worked together after the Clent project,’ Penn said.

Kim glanced at Alison. ‘You think Helen could have been his last?’

Alison shrugged. ‘It’s hard to say. The change in his behaviour came with Melody Jones, and until we know more about what happened there, we can’t possibly speculate.’

‘And it’s time to try and get some answers to that,’ she said as a sly smile worked its way onto her face.

Alison caught it first. ‘What are you thinking?’