Child's Play (D.I. Kim Stone #11)(91)

She opened the bedroom door into total darkness. Blackout blinds covered both windows. Night raids as an immigration officer often meant Devon had to try to catch sleep in the day.

Stacey undressed silently and crawled into bed.

Devon’s deep rhythmic breathing drained the tension from her body.

‘You know that I know you’re here, right?’ Devon asked, clearly.

‘Of course,’ Stacey said, moving a little closer.

Devon moved away without turning. ‘Why are you?’

Oh, she wasn’t going to make this easy and nor should she.

Stacey had been tempted to talk to her boss, seek an opinion from a completely objective person, but earlier tonight she’d realised that she didn’t need to.

All week she had been thinking of what she could possibly lose but tonight she had been surrounded by pain. To her left had been Ellie Lewis, already damaged and barely holding on to her sanity. A man being rushed to hospital after murdering three innocent people, and a woman who had lost everything sobbing beside her car.

And all she could think of was what she had to gain.

Yes, she’d panicked. Yes, she’d been frightened and yes, she’d acted like a stupid child.

‘Ask me again, Dee,’ she said, tracing a finger gently down her lover’s spine.

No response.

‘Please,’ she whispered.

Devon turned in the bed and faced her. No light shone upon them but Stacey knew every feature by heart.

Devon cleared her throat and reached for Stacey’s hand.

Her voice was quiet and nervous when she spoke.

‘Stacey Wood, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’

Stacey beamed in the darkness.

‘Yes, my sweetheart. I will.’





One Hundred Eight





Kim sat outside the property for just a few minutes before getting out of the car.

She had just finished questioning Eric Hanson following the events of two nights ago. Luckily, Veronica’s twenty miles an hour speed had caused nothing more than a fractured rib, a dislocated shoulder and mild concussion.

Despite the lack of forensic evidence against him, bar the fingerprint on the board game wrapper, Eric had confessed to all the murders offering a blow-by-blow account of each one. He had recounted the murder of his brother-in-law with no more emotion than the others, referring to him as a dirty old bastard.

Eric had gone on to describe a childhood so warped and twisted that she had struggled to remember she was speaking to a fully grown man and not an injured young boy.

He had openly explained how his one single possession left behind by his father had been sold to buy books for his sister. He told of his grandmother removing Beth from school, and the beatings he’d received if he even spoke during lesson time. He explained that he’d also been taken out of school because his nan hadn’t been prepared to traipse down to the school for just one.

But most of all he spoke of being ignored, of being made to feel invisible, worthless. When he’d read of the suicide of Stevie’s brother, Ryan, it had brought back every inadequate feeling he’d ever had, which he’d buried after killing the person who had caused it.

Throughout the four hours it had taken for his statement Kim had forced herself to remember that she was questioning a man that had killed four people including the brutal murder of his grandmother on the spider’s web. Four families changed for ever because of one damaged, broken soul.

Ellie Lewis had been released from hospital the following day with her physical injuries treated.

Kim had no clue about the long-term psychological scars of her ordeal. Her phone was switched off, her rented address empty and her private clients cancelled.

Right now, Ellie Lewis did not want to be found by anyone, and Kim could respect that.

Beth Nixon was preparing to bury the husband who had been murdered by her own brother. The grief and the love had been real and she was unlikely to speak to her brother again.

Jared and Serena were making the most of the publicity surrounding the Brainbox event to try to defend the whole process, although public opinion was not on their side.

She’d caught up with Penn, who had recounted the events of the service station murders and his colleague’s involvement. She knew he’d played down what had happened with his brother at the old go-karting track, but Travis had filled her in fully. She’d met people like Doug before; officers who wanted promotion without the work, officers who felt they were entitled to more without the hard graft. It seemed that over the years Doug had grown steadily more bitter and resentful of the people around him as they progressed. Travis admitted that he’d advised Doug against taking the sergeant’s exam a third time, pretty much sealing his fate. Kim wondered if that had been the straw that had broken that particular camel’s back.

She knew that Penn would beat himself up for a long time for not spotting his colleague’s true nature earlier, but he’d stuck with his instinct that there was something amiss in the case against Gregor Nuryef, who was back home with his wife and children. She was proud of her colleague’s unwillingness to let it go and to fight hard for the truth.

And whatever had been wrong with Stacey was all good now. She’d turned up for work the day after they’d caught Hanson with a spring in her step and a smile that blinded them all. First into the office at 7 a.m. she had shared her news with Kim before the others had arrived. Kim was truly happy for the constable and thought the two of them made a pretty good match.