Child's Play (D.I. Kim Stone #11)(78)

In front of him was the main building of the abandoned go-kart facility. It had closed three years ago following the death of a child who had fallen into the ravine, a seventy-foot drop on to a bed of rocks.

The main building held a couple of back offices, a reception area, toilets and a small café. Beyond that, out of sight, was the go-karting track and a shack for hiring out the safety helmets.

He moved closer to the main building and edged along it, ducking and moving below the windows.

He listened keenly for any sound from his brother. He heard nothing but the distant rumble of traffic on the road he’d just left.

He took two more steps towards the edge of the building. Once he reached the corner and turned he would be in full view of the track and the smaller building.

He tried to take deep breaths to still the trembling that was vibrating around his body, terrified at what he was going to find.

He swallowed deeply as he reached the edge of the wall; the end of his cover.

One more intake of breath and then he turned.

That last breath got trapped somewhere inside his chest as he saw his brother standing blindfolded at the edge of the ravine.





Eighty-Seven





‘How many you got left?’ Stacey asked, leaning back in her chair. The wooden bars across the back creaked as she tried to get some lumbar support digging, into her flesh. Boy, she was missing the ergonomically designed chair the boss had procured back at the office.

‘Just ruled out another sixteen which leaves me…’ she checked down her list. ‘Nineteen kids left to check.’

‘I have seventeen and am rapidly losing the will to live,’ she answered, getting up from her seat. She stretched and groaned at the same time.

‘I’m gonna join you,’ Tiff said, pushing her chair back.

They paced the hotel room on opposite sides. ‘Still having fun, Tiff?’ Stacey asked as the woman did a couple of star jumps in the middle of the room.

‘Would you think any less of me if I said yes?’ she asked, heading towards the tea and coffee tray.

Stacey shook her head. ‘Nah, I get it.’

She continued to pace as Tiff made herself an instant black coffee and reached for one of Stacey’s diet Cokes from the fridge.

‘You know, I don’t…’

‘I’m not sure we’re…’

They both chuckled at starting their sentences at the exact same time and appearing to be having the same thought.

‘It’s not working, is it?’ Stacey asked the question in its entirety.

‘I see the boss’s logic but we could have another couple of murders on our hands by the time we’ve finished checking and verifying the whereabouts of all these kids.’

Stacey couldn’t have put it any better herself.

She popped the ring on her can of Coke and took a swig, looking at the flip charts for inspiration.

‘You know, the boss said that professor guy in Manchester talked a lot about the trigger. He suggested we identify what’s set off this killing spree.’

‘So, something must have happened recently to set our guy off,’ Tiff answered, retaking her seat.

Stacey’s eyes went to one particular event in the chronology of what they’d learned since Tuesday.

She rushed back to retake her chair opposite Tiffany.

‘I think I know just where to start.’





Eighty-Eight





Bryant grabbed a coffee and looked around the crowded social area for a seat. Right now he was feeling a bit twilight zone about the hotel and wondered if he was ever going to escape.

‘This seat taken, buddy?’ he asked a boy sitting alone with a book.

‘Taken where?’ he asked, peering over his reading glasses. ‘Do you mean occupied?’

Bryant looked around again but there were no other seats available.

‘I’m gonna take that as a no,’ he said, pulling the chair towards him.

The boy regarded him seriously, and Bryant guessed him to be ten or eleven years old with fair hair and clear hazel eyes, enlarged by the thick spectacles.

‘Is it appropriate for a middle-aged man to seek the company of an unattended child?’ the boy asked, seriously.

‘Blimey, bud, I only wanted to take the weight off for a minute,’ he said, trying not to laugh at the kid’s earnest expression, which was clearly still waiting for a response.

Bryant took out his ID. ‘I’m a police officer.’

‘So?’ he asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

‘So I protect people not hurt them,’ he explained.

‘I’m not sure the two are mutually exclusive. You could still be a bad man.’

Bryant shook his head as he put his ID back in his pocket. ‘Where are your parents?’

‘Speaking to the head judge of the general knowledge competition.’

‘Why?’ he asked, taking a sip of his drink as Serena and Jared came from opposite directions and met in front of the café counter.

‘They’re appealing the decision to remove a point from my score for a wrong answer which led to my loss of the competition.’

‘And was the answer wrong?’

He shrugged. ‘Yes and no.’