‘I have an obligation, a duty of care, which you make damn near impossible for me to exercise. You have to be offered support and counselling.’

Kim rolled her eyes. ‘When I need someone to tell me how I should be feeling I’ll be sure to let you know.’

‘That you don’t feel anything may well be the problem, Stone.’

‘It’s not a problem for me, Sir.’

He leaned forward, his eyes boring into her. ‘Not right at this moment but eventually all the negativity will affect you and your ability to function.’

Kim doubted that. It was the way she always handled things. The bad things were packed away in boxes and sealed shut. The key was in never opening the boxes and her only question was why more people didn’t do that.

The old adage stated that time healed everything. And she had mastered the art of manipulating time. In real time she had failed to save the life of Arthur Connop only seven hours earlier but the activity crammed into those intervening hours distanced the memory. In her mind, the incident could have happened last week. Therefore, the event was much further back in her past than Woody believed.

‘Sir, thank you for your concern but I really am fine. I accept that I can’t save everyone and I don’t beat myself up when people die.’

Woody held up his hand. ‘Stone, enough. My decision is made. Once this case is over you will seek counselling or you will face suspension.’

‘But ...’

He shook his head. ‘If not, the bad inside will destroy you.’

What she held inside was of no concern to her. It was locked up and contained. Her only fear was in letting it out. To release it would most certainly signal her destruction.

She sighed heavily. That was a fight for another day.

‘There will be no further discussion on the matter but before you go, there’s something else.’

Fabulous, she thought.

‘I’ve received a call from the superintendent who has received a call from the chief superintendent who both want you removed from this case.’ He sat back. ‘So, tell me who the hell you pissed off today.’

There was no point lying to him. Clearly someone’s feathers had been well and truly ruffled.

‘Sir, I could give you a list but it wouldn’t be exhaustive. However, the only person I’m aware of having angered that badly would be Richard Croft but I can’t imagine he has that kind of influence.’

There was a brief pause as their eyes met. ‘His wife,’ they said, together.

‘What did you say to him?’

She shrugged. ‘Many things,’ she answered, thinking Croft’s wife must love him very much after all.

‘Witness or suspect?’

She pulled a face. ‘Bit of both.’

‘Dammit, Stone. When will you learn that there is an element of politics when policing at this level?’

‘No, Sir, there is an element of politics in policing at your level. Mine is still about uncovering the truth.’

Woody glowered at her. Kim hadn’t quite meant it the way it had sounded. She relied on the fact that he would know that and chose not to open her mouth to change feet.

She stuck out her chin. ‘So, are you gonna follow instructions and remove me?’

‘Stone, I do not need goading from you to make use of a perfectly healthy spine. They have already been advised that you will continue to head the case.’

Kim smiled. She should have known.

‘The councillor clearly has something to hide or he wouldn’t have set his guard dog loose.’

For the first time in days, he offered her the promise of a smile. ‘So, I guess I’d better unchain mine.’

‘Yes, Sir,’ Kim said, with a smile.

Forty-Five

Kim looked from Bryant to Stacey. ‘Okay, new day. Dawson will be going straight to the site and he’ll call when there’s more to report.

‘So, to recap. Of the six staff members identified, only two remain; Richard Croft and William Payne. Richard Croft doesn’t like me very much so I don’t think we’ll be getting much more from him. But he’s hiding something.’

‘Guv, two of the objections to the professor’s project were filed by the law firm Travis, Dunne and Cohen.’

‘Croft’s wife?’

Stacey nodded. ‘She works under her maiden name of Cohen.’

‘So, whatever he’s hiding, she knows about.’

‘Worth a visit to her office, Guv?’ Bryant asked.

Kim shook her head. ‘She’s already tried to remove me from the case and I’m not giving her any further ammunition.’ She shrugged. ‘We're not gonna get any help from her. Whatever Croft’s hiding, his wife is party to it and will block us at every turn.’

‘How far do yer think she'd go?’ Stacey asked.

‘Depends on the level of potential damage,’ Kim answered, recalling the gated house, the cars, not to mention the career.

Kim stood at the board that had been divided into two. The first half had been further quartered. The details of Teresa Wyatt and Tom Curtis occupied the top two segments. The bottom quarters were occupied by Mary Andrews and Arthur Connop.

‘Anything back from forensics on Arthur?’ Kim asked.

‘Broken glass from a passenger-side headlight and some particles of white paint embedded in his trouser leg. They’re trying to match it now.’

Kim stared hard at the left hand side of the board. Despite her inability to prove the murder of Mary Andrews and Arthur Connop, she knew their deaths were linked to something sinister that occurred ten years earlier.

What did you do? she silently asked all of them.

The opposite side of the board was currently divided into two, representing the buried victims so far removed. Kim knew the board would be divided again before the end of the day.

Three names were printed to the side.

Melanie Harris

Tracy Morgan

Louise Dunston

‘How's the identification going?’ Stacey asked, following Kim’s gaze.

Kim didn’t turn. ‘Apparently these three were a close little group. I’m hoping Doctor Bate can offer us more clues to identify which girl is which.’

‘Do yer think there's more than three, Guv?’ Stacey asked.

Kim shook her head. There was a reason why a particular group had been targeted.

‘Can you find out more about these three on Facebook without being detected?’

‘Oh yeah. When I asked if anyone remembered me, one girl asked if I was that shy little black girl with thick glasses and a stutter. And I said yes.’

Kim rolled her eyes. ‘What did you find out about the minister?’

‘The only minister I could find with any link to Crestwood was Victor Wilks, the guy who did some charity work. His name's come up in a few posts. The girls all refer to him fondly as “Father”. He used to visit the place once a month to give a short service for the girls.’

‘Background?’

‘Hard to know. So far, I’ve got him spending a few years in Bristol, a couple in Coventry and a year in Manchester. I've thrown out some emails to see if I can get a bite.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘Dudley.’

‘Since when?’

Stacey tapped the keyboard. ‘Two years ago.’

‘Got an address?’

Stacey passed Kim a piece of paper as Bryant replaced the receiver.

‘Guv, that was the front desk. You have a visitor.’

Kim frowned. She was too busy to drop everything for a walk-in.

‘Call them back and ...’

‘This one ain’t shifting, Guv. Your visitor is Bethany Adamson and she is mighty pissed off.’