Page 29 of Stolen Ones

‘Yep, I was surprised too. Kinda comes across as someone who has always had money, doesn’t he?’

Kim nodded her agreement although she should have known better than to judge. She too had spent the first six years of her life on Hollytree.

‘His father is unknown, and his mother was mentally ill.’

Kim frowned at the similarities.

‘Apparently, his mother, Nita Harte, developed severe agoraphobia after giving birth. She didn’t leave the high-rise flat for just over eight years. And neither did he.’

‘School?’

Stacey shook her head. ‘She signed him out when the authorities came knocking. A neighbour shopped for them once a week and a cousin took care of paying the bills, but other than that it was just the two of them stuck in that small flat for years.’

‘Until?’

‘It don’t get any rosier, boss. A week after Steven’s eighth birthday she hung herself in the bathroom.’

‘Jesus.’

‘Obviously Steven was taken into care. At first, he was terrified of the outside world. He didn’t understand a lot of it. He ran away from the group home twice and tried to get back in the flat. The new tenants weren’t thrilled, and no family ever came forward to foster or adopt him.’

Kim felt sadness begin to steal over her. She pushed it away forcefully. If this man had harmed any little girl, she would not offer him one ounce of her sympathy.

‘He’d never been to a park, a beach, a forest – which I’m guessing explains his philanthropy now. At school, he was a loner. He had no social skills, and he was late into the school system. His intelligence helped him catch up on the academic side, but he never learned how to get along with other people. And he didn’t really need to. By the time he was fifteen he outshone every pupil in his class and had already set his sights on college.’

‘You didn’t go home last night, did you, Stace?’ Penn asked, raising an eyebrow at all the information she’d gathered.

Kim took a moment to digest it all. Normally she had a grudging respect for anyone who was able to pull themselves up from humble beginnings. On top of that he’d faced a childhood with a mentally ill parent. He’d faced his own mother’s death years before he should have and had been abandoned to the care system. On a normal day, she would have gone into that room and shook his hand.

But there was also the possibility that he abducted and killed little girls.

‘Okay, Stace, let’s not go pinning a hero badge on him quite yet. He alluded to the fact there may be others like Melody Jones. Start looking into it,’ she said as an alarm sounded on her phone.

Woody had texted her with an instruction to brief him at 7.30a.m. Without Bryant’s fussing to get there on time, she’d set a reminder. Good job because she’d forgotten all about it, and what she really needed was time to prepare her strategy for 9a.m. when Steven Harte would return, followed closely by Bryant.

‘Okay, guys, get to it,’ she said, heading out of the office.

As she made her way upstairs, she was betting that the two of them were discussing Steven Harte and the likelihood of him being involved in the crimes. And maybe they were right but, if so, why had he walked into the station in the first place?

It wasn’t even eighto’clock and her head was hurting already.

Kim knocked her boss’s door and entered.

‘Sir, you wanted—Oh, am I early?’

A man who appeared to be in his late sixties sat at Woody’s briefing table, holding a zip-up document folder. Two large bags lay at his feet.

‘No, Stone, for once you’re bang on time.’ He turned his chair towards the man. ‘I’d like you to meet Derek Foggarty. I thought that given the need to interview this witness effectively, you might benefit from some expert help.’

‘Sir, I was thinking the same thing. Is there any way we can get Alison—’

‘Derek here is an ex-MI5 trainer,’ Woody said, ignoring her. ‘He is an expert in the field of interview techniques, and I think he could give you some valuable pointers.’

Kim felt her mouth begin to open before she closed it again. Her last performance appraisal had highlighted her disrespect for visiting experts. She hadn’t denied it but most of them were complete dicks. She liked to choose which dicks got to come in and advise her team, but maybe Woody had pulled a blinder. The mention of MI5 was a showstopper, and any help she could get in extracting the information from Harte was welcome. For the sake of Woody and her next performance appraisal, she would give Derek Foggarty the benefit of the doubt.

He stood and offered his hand. Kim ignored it as she leaned down and took one of his bags.

‘Jesus, what you got in here, a couple of interviewees?’