Page 112 of Twisted Lies

‘What happened?’

‘He was imprisoned for the offence of possessing indecent images.’

‘For how long?’

‘Three years.’

‘Jesus, is that…?’

‘He served two,’ Wexford said. ‘And you’re right. It’s no time at all. Unfortunately, the law makes the distinction between possessing and making an indecent image. And although every photo he held was a category A image, which are the most severe and cover images of children in pain, the maximum sentence is three years.’

‘It’s not enough. Not even close.’

‘Agreed, but he served his time and was given a new identity when he was released. Leanne was assigned a new family.’

‘She changed her name?’

He nodded. ‘It was the safest way to sever any connection with Boy X.’

‘And Boy X is still in the programme, even though he broke the law and should be behind bars for the rest of his life?’

‘Yes, he is, and I for one am glad of the fact he’s in the programme.’

‘You can’t seriously defend—’

‘I defend nothing,’ he snapped. ‘He is a twisted, soulless, depraved man with sickening fantasies worse than any nightmare I could conjure up. But under what other circumstance could we, the police, legally watch his every move, search his computer and basically invade his privacy whenever we want to?’

As a free citizen, even a convicted criminal, he would have much more liberty, Kim realised.

‘Because there is no mistake that Boy X would reoffend,’ Wexford continued. ‘So yes, it costs thousands upon thousands to keep the piece of shit protected, but we don’t do it for him. We do it to protect the public from him.’

Kim had to admit that she’d never thought of it like that before.

‘And his identity?’

‘Is something you don’t need to know. He has been moved and, as ever, we will protect his—’ He stopped speaking as his phone rang.

He answered it and listened as all kinds of thoughts began to go round in Kim’s head. She didn’t like Leanne one little bit but she knew how to do her job.

‘Keep me informed,’ he said, ending the call with a frown.

Kim’s senses were alerted to an anxiety in the man that hadn’t been present before.

‘What?’

‘Leanne can’t be reached. Her car is at her house, and her home has been ransacked,’ he said, standing.

‘Fuck,’ Kim said, saying nothing more as she sprinted back to Bryant, waiting at the entrance to the park.

It looked like the bastard had already got her.

And he’d probably now had her for hours.

Ninety-Six

Despite what she’d been told to do, Stacey really didn’t want to read anything more about Emily Harris. The sickness in her stomach and the involuntary tear that occasionally slid over her cheek were already too much for her to bear.

The name had brought up more than twenty-four million search results. It was a case she remembered vaguely from her mother watching the news reports before giving her an extra bedtime hug. She’d heard the name a few times since on a particular anniversary, and more recently there’d been a twenty-year vigil held at the place she’d been found. Her family had not attended.