Child's Play (D.I. Kim Stone #11)(63)

But she also knew they needed to be at that hotel. She was sure their murderer was there and who knew who else was on his hit list.

‘Feeling a bit like Hugh Hefner right now,’ Bryant said, with a smirk.

‘Who’s that?’ Tiffany asked.

The smirk disappeared. ‘I don’t like her any more, guv,’ he said loudly.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Kim said to Tiff over her shoulder. ‘After more than five years he still doesn’t like me.’

Tiffany laughed nervously. ‘I always seem to say the wrong thing. My school report always had a big tick for effort but—’

‘Shush, Tink,’ Kim said as something snapped in her brain.

‘Sorry, I know I talk a lot.’

‘That was a good shush,’ Kim explained.

She turned in her seat and looked around at all three passengers.

‘We’ve been looking at the markings on the victims’ necks as an X, like the letter, wondering what it means.’

‘But it is an X,’ Stacey said, frowning at her.

‘Yes, Stace, but it’s also a cross, as opposed to a tick. He’s trying to tell them, or us, that these people did something wrong.’





Sixty-Eight





Kim opened the door to the room at two minutes past ten and nodded approvingly. The hotel was booked solid because of the event, but Woody had managed to pull some strings and the result was a two-bedroom suite with a dining area that looked out on to a small fishing lake.

‘Woody did good,’ Bryant observed stepping in behind her.

‘Okay, just throw the stuff in for now. Restaurant closes in fifteen minutes, so get down there if you want to eat.’

‘You coming?’ Bryant asked.

‘Yeah, be there in a bit. Get me a sandwich or something.’

He nodded and headed out with the others. She wanted to take a look around without standing out amongst a group of four adults.

The Village Hotel complex was a sprawling maze with a central driveway that cut through a car park at the front. The rooms sat to the left and the rest of the facilities were to the right with a large communal reception, bar and café separating the two halves.

She understood that the hotel had three conference rooms, a banquet hall, gym, swimming facilities and an extensive play area for kids they’d driven by on the way in.

She passed by the double doors to the restaurant and headed through the reception area which was full of parents and children sitting around the tables: just as you would expect for such an event. Books and notepads covered the tables as most appeared to be cramming in extra study in the downtime. The absence of laughter and noise amongst so many children was unsettling.

She frowned and continued her journey through to the conference facilities.

The first room she entered had three clear areas for music. A piano, a violin and a flute. A judging table sat at the top of the room with three chairs behind.

Double doors adjoined to the next room, which was set out with chessboards, again with the single table at the top of the room.

The third room, across the hall, held the same three seats and judging table with a small raised podium in front of the window. She was guessing it was for spelling or questions.

The final room was the banquet hall, which she was surprised to see wasn’t empty.

Half the space was filled with seating: desks and easy chairs. The other half had already been set out for the main event the following night: the quiz that would crown one of the children Brainbox of the year.

A group of twenty parents or so were gathered, unspeaking, in a semicircle at the centre of the room.

Kim took a few steps closer and saw the reason.

A colourful clown was performing to a seated audience of about thirteen kids who all looked too old to be entertained by such an act.

She watched as the clown pulled a line of flags from his sleeve and then pretended to fall over.

‘Coco the crap,’ shouted one of the boys, Kim guessed to be about ten years old.

Nice, Kim thought. Not that the kid was wrong but she would have hoped for better manners.

Clearly, the organisers’ attempt to inject some light-hearted humour and play into the event was not a particularly popular attraction with the kids.

With the lay of the land noted in her head she returned through the reception, which had quieted even more as families had obviously retired to their rooms. By her watch it was approaching half ten.

The restaurant was almost empty but she was pleased to see her team putting Woody’s food budget to good use.

A chicken sandwich with a salad garnish had been placed before the empty seat.

She sat down and sipped the coffee that was lukewarm.

‘So?’ Bryant asked, spearing a forkful of tomato-covered pasta. ‘Find our killer yet?’

‘Eerily devoid of cheer for a kids’ event,’ she replied, ignoring Bryant’s question. ‘Makes Mastermind look like a blast.’

‘Hey, it’s a tough life for us child genius types,’ Bryant offered, causing Tiffany to almost choke on her food.

‘What the hell is that?’ Kim asked, glancing at her plate.

‘Fish-finger sandwich,’ Tiff said, licking her fingers.

‘Hang on, more importantly why was that so funny?’ Bryant asked the constable.