Page 84 of Stolen Ones

‘Absolutely.’

‘But he didn’t tell you what the report said?’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘So when did you start looking for alternative victims?’

‘First thing this morning, sir. Just a gut thing but I can assure you that no rules were broken, and Steven Harte and his lawyer were informed of the findings within minutes of the email coming through.’

‘By which time you happened to have correctly identified the remains?’

‘Yes, sir.’

He raised an eyebrow.

‘Police work happens in mysterious ways, sir.’

Assured that nothing improper had occurred, Woody had commenced writing a report on the timeline of events which would be entered into evidence and would cover her back and other parts of her anatomy.

‘Good work, guys,’ Kim said, walking back into the room.

A pensive silence met her arrival.

‘Who died?’ she asked, looking around.

‘No one, but Bryant has found something you’re not going to like.’

How had Bryant uncovered anything? He’d been given the job of background checking the builder.

‘It’s Jenson Butler, guv,’ he said, turning to his computer. ‘The man was questioned back in ’96 in connection with the disappearance of Melody Jones.’

Every positive feeling deserted her.

Was there really a chance they had just arrested the wrong man?

Fifty-One

‘You don’t think we should have gone to see Gum first?’ Bryant said as they headed towards Mucklow Hill.

The knowledge that Inspector Wrigley had spoken to the building company owner twenty-five years ago was still spinning around her head. She wanted to speak to both men as a matter of urgency, but one other visit came first.

‘Nope, I think this family has waited long enough, don’t you?’

‘Fair point,’ he said.

‘So, you wanna do a bit more data mining instead of being out…?’

‘Hell, no,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I can barely find my way around a squirty keyboard with two fingers…’

‘Qwerty,’ she corrected.

‘See, what the hell kind of word is that?’

‘Oh, Bryant, shut up and drive.’

‘Well, it’s not like we had far to go,’ he said, taking the first right after the B&Q Island.

The houses were a mixture of detached and semi-detached properties that were built in the mid-nineties. The new red brick used on every property showed some signs of weathering, but the buildings still looked like members of the same family.