Page 14 of Stolen Ones

‘Exactly my point,’ Stacey said. ‘But then what’s his motivation for coming in and claiming he knows about the disappearance of Melody Jones, which happened twenty-five years ago, on the exact day that another girl goes missing?’

‘Maybe he’s psychic and he’s here to help.’

‘Penn, are you high?’

‘It was a joke, Stace, although it’s the only thing that makes sense. If he took Melody all those years ago, why come forward now? What does he have to gain? And if he didn’t take her then why is he here at all?’ Penn scratched his head. ‘Any work with prisons or time served?’

Stacey shook her head. She too had wondered if he’d somehow been in contact with the real killer of Melody Jones and had information to share. But if that was the case, why not just give the information and go? Why claim to know about the disappearance of Grace Lennard?

‘Doesn’t make sense,’ Penn said, echoing her thoughts and turning back to his screen.

She had the feeling that in the coming days they were going to say that a lot.

Six

‘Bloody hell, Stone, you didn’t tell me the man in interview room one wastheSteven Harte,’ Woody said, shaking his head.

Her boss, DCI Woodward, was not normally a head shaker. He gave little away with expression or demeanour to the untrained eye. Luckily for her, she’d been pissing him off for years and knew the signs well.

‘Sir, I didn’t realise that there was anytheabout him until Stacey called me ten minutes ago.’ She frowned. ‘But I wouldn’t have done anything different if I had known. I don’t really care what he invented, how much money he has or how he spends it. If he has information about our missing girl, he’ll be treated accordingly.’

‘I wasn’t suggesting you treat him any differently,’ Woody snapped. ‘But it helps to know who you’re talking to.’

‘Agreed, so do I have your permission to charge him?’

‘With what?’

‘Haven’t decided yet but I don’t like the fact he could leave at any minute.’

It was the only thing that had been on Kim’s mind on the journey back from the day centre. She had left the ground operations in the capable hands of Inspector Plant and had fully expected Steven Harte to be gone upon her return.

‘Has he admitted anything yet?’

She shook her head.

‘Has he implicated himself in any way?’

She shook her head again.

‘Then you know what you need to do.’

‘Take his phone and search his house?’ she asked hopefully.

Woody raised an eyebrow. ‘Good luck with getting a judge to sign off on that one.’

‘But what if he’s wasting my time?’ she asked. ‘Grace Lennard is out there somewhere, and I feel like I’m chasing someone else’s tail.’

‘That may be true, Stone, in which case I trust you to go in there and rule out his involvement or get something concrete out of him.’

‘And what if he won’t budge?’

‘Oh, I’m sure you can make him budge,’ Woody said, returning her gaze. ‘You like no better challenge than moving an immovable object.’

She turned and left the room, and for the sake of Grace Lennard, she hoped her boss was right.

Seven

It was just after six when Kim re-entered the interview room. She hoped that the tea in the three empty cups had loosened Steven Harte’s tongue.