Page 93 of Stolen Ones

‘Stace, what are we supposed to be looking—?’

‘Just watch,’ she said, noting that Alison was already starting to peer in more closely.

Grace in the hallway taking something from her unicorn backpack.

Grace heading outside just behind a couple of other girls.

‘Play that bit again,’ Alison said.

It was the bit where Stacey’s finding was most obvious. She rewound and froze the frame.

‘Ah,’ Alison said.

Penn shook his head. ‘I still don’t—Oh, yeah. Is that what I think it is?’

Yes, that was exactly what he thought it was.

Grace Lennard had a whopping great bruise all down the left side of her arm.

Fifty-Six

‘You know when you’re just not convinced,’ Bryant said, heading towards the home of Claire Lennard.

She had listened silently as Stacey had called through her findings once they’d finished speaking with Jenson Butler. Her immediate reaction had come from her stomach, which had reacted against the thought that Claire Lennard had in any way harmed her child.

‘For once we agree on something,’ she said as Bryant entered the area of Kate’s Hill.

‘Everything in that house screamed love and warmth. Did you see the little clay model figures?’

Kim nodded. She had noticed them too. It looked like a family of three modelled from craft clay that had clearly been done by a child, but it took pride of place between two family photos on the fireplace. It was always the small things.

‘Got no choice but to have the conversation though,’ she said, even though her stomach was rebelling against it.

The unease did not lessen as Bryant parked behind Bernadette’s Ford Fiesta, which appeared to be in the same spot it had been on Monday.

The liaison officer answered the door with a smile.

‘You not been home yet?’ Kim asked, stepping inside.

‘Nope. World War Three is raging back at home, and I am remaining Switzerland. I’m needed more here right now.’

‘How is she?’

Bernadette sighed. ‘As you’d expect, not great. She won’t eat, she won’t sleep, she won’t wash, she paces all the time. The adrenaline is surging around her body and she doesn’t know what to do with it. I think she feels she’s letting Grace down if she allows any kind of normality to settle. The fact that she’s got nothing to do to help find Grace is making things worse.’

Great. Kim was pretty sure that the questions they had for Claire were not going to brighten her day.

‘Is that the inspector?’ Claire asked, appearing in the doorway from the lounge.

Kim hid her surprise at the appearance of the woman. There was no judgement in the fact she hadn’t changed clothes since Monday or that her hair was unwashed and uncombed. Her face was pale, emphasising the red-rimmed eyes that had developed hairline creases on the lower lids.

‘We haven’t found her yet,’ Kim said, answering the only question in her eyes. ‘But we are following up leads.’

Fatigue appeared to be slowing her reactions, but it still only took a few seconds for her expression to change to suspicion.

There was no point lying to her. Claire knew that if it was a simple update she was after, she could have called Bernadette. That was her job.

‘Shall we sit down, Claire?’ Kim asked, stepping towards the doorway to the lounge.