Page 121 of Stolen Ones

‘Where were you that was so important you sent me a low-ranking, incompetent—’

‘DS Wood is neither low-ranking nor incompetent. I was dealing with the discovery of bones beneath the fountain of Wyley Court. Another project completed by yourself and Jenson Butler.’

‘Inspector, my client is not under arrest for anything other than—’

‘Your client asked me a question, Ms Swift, and I’m answering it, so settle down.’ She paused. ‘In addition, I checked on the progress of an excavation we’re carrying out at Clent.’

‘Inspector, I must—’

‘Still answering the question, Ms Swift. I was unaware of the detail required by your client, whether he wanted a brief summary or a blow-by-blow account of my day so far.’

She was not allowed to question him about other crimes while only being under arrest for the first, but she could make him aware that she had followed the crumbs and these were the sites she’d found. There was a blink that lasted longer than normal. Almost an acknowledgement.

‘Is that enough detail for you, Mr Harte?’

‘Yes, thank you.’

She took a breath and expelled it slowly. This was her only chance. He was under arrest for the abduction and murder of Lexi Walters, for which he’d been in custody for twenty-four hours. She had twenty minutes to go.

‘The time for games is over, Mr Harte. We’re not prepared to play anymore.’

She leaned forward, as close to his personal space as she could get.

He leaned back.

‘What did you do to Lexi Walters?’

‘I didn’t do anything.’

‘She crawled into that hole by herself?’

Kim could feel the set expression of her own face. His gaze met hers, and there was just the two of them in the room.

‘Did she try to escape before you’d finished ogling her? Had you not had your fill of voyeurism before she tried to get out of the prison you’d made for her?’

Harte’s eyes were burning into hers.

‘Was it an accident? Did you accidentally kill her while trying to subdue her?’

No answer and Kim hadn’t expected one. He was rattled. She could see that, but he wasn’t angry enough.

‘Did you sexually assault six-year-old Lexi Walters, Mr Harte?’

Nothing.

‘Did you allow Jenson Butler to sexually assault her? Was this some kind of sick, perverted partnership where you got to watch while he raped a child?’

Colour was flooding into his face.

‘Were you and Butler a tag team, taking it in turns to rape her? Is that why you’re both involved in the disposal? You had a deal, a pact that neither of you could break because you both are guilty? Are you covering for each other’s sick and disgusting games?’

Kim opened the file and pushed a photo of a smiling Lexi towards him. Next she pushed a photo of the skeleton as it had been arranged in the morgue.

Kate Swift looked away but not before Kim saw the horror on her face.

‘What did you do to take Lexi Walters from this to this?’

Harte’s muscles were jumping all over the place.