Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone #10)(23)

‘Penn, where do you keep all this unnecessary information?’

He shrugged, retrieved his headphones and this time she let him. But her brain hadn’t stopped working.

Yes, the person inside her was hurt that she was being kept in the dark, but the investigator in her wanted to know what it was and why.

She knew the boss wanted her to investigate Mark Johnson’s altercation with Harry Jenks at the community centre and she would, but something suddenly came back to her. When Alison had arrived the previous evening, she’d been about to say something when the boss had cut her off.

She tried to remember it word for word: So, I hear you had a crime scene that bore sim— Stacey wrote it down on a Post-it note and studied it for a minute.

She had no idea what that could mean but she made the decision she was going to do her best to find out.





Thirty-Two





‘Seriously, though,’ Bryant said reaching to take the notebook back. ‘How are we gonna narrow it down to the hundreds?’

Kim knew he had a point.

Alison turned her way. ‘Okay, if this has anything to do with you it’s not as simple as pissing someone off. No one is going to do this because you pissed them off,’ she explained. ‘This is going to be a life ruined; someone who holds so much rage towards you that they’re prepared to kill people to make their point.’

‘That may have cut it by a third,’ Bryant said, starting to write names on the notepad.

‘Nina Croft?’ Kim questioned, looking across at his pad.

‘Who is she?’ Alison asked, also noting down the name.

‘The wife of a local councillor on one of our earliest major investigations into a children’s home called Crestwood.’

‘And?’

‘It’s fair to say that the things we uncovered pretty much ruined her life,’ Bryant said. ‘It’s also accurate to say she hated the guv with a passion.’

‘Put her on the list,’ Alison said.

Kim found it doubtful that Nina Croft would have held on to her hatred for such a long time. It had been over three years but Bryant was right that there had been a deep hatred from the woman and Nina had held her personally responsible.

‘Symes,’ Bryant said, writing down the name.

Alison nodded her agreement. It was the kidnapping case they had worked together and she had worked with them and knew these perpetrators well.

‘Symes is a possibility. He hates you enough.’

‘But he’s in prison,’ she said, shuddering, as she recalled that the only thing that mattered to the man was causing pain, and the younger his victim the better.

‘Some people are angry enough and powerful enough to exact revenge from behind bars,’ Alison said. ‘Put him on the list.’

Oh yes, she’d had experience of people tampering with her life from behind bars.

Bryant appeared to be following her thought process.

‘You don’t think Alex?…’

‘No,’ Kim said. ‘She had her shot and failed. She doesn’t repeat herself.’

‘Care to explain?’ Alison asked.

Kim opened her mouth but Bryant cut in.

‘Doctor Alexandra Thorne is a sociopathic psychiatrist who used and abused her patients for her own sick experiment; a game resulting in countless deaths.

‘During the investigation, she got particularly fascinated with the guv and tried to tear her apart. She failed but tried again from behind bars to bring her to her knees, psychologically, by toying with her weakest points and had someone ready and waiting to kill her if that didn’t work.’

‘Put her on the list,’ Alison said.

‘Take her off,’ Kim replied.

‘Inspector, I know sociopaths,’ Alison shot.

‘And I know Alex. It isn’t her, now take her off the list.’

Bryant looked between the two of them and scrubbed out her name.

Alison did not.

‘Okay, what was your next major investigation?’ Alison asked.

‘Female victims at a body farm,’ Kim said.

‘Anything there?’

‘Don’t hate me enough,’ Kim said.

Bryant nodded his agreement.

Alison’s pen hovered above her pad. ‘Next.’

‘Next of kin murders,’ Kim said, remembering finding Woody almost unconscious on the floor of his holiday home in Wales.

‘Not powerful enough.’

Again, Bryant agreed with her.

‘Next,’ she asked.

‘Hate crimes case,’ Bryant said. ‘Our DC, Stacey, almost lost her life.’

‘Anyone?’

Kim began to shake her head and then stopped.

‘Powerful enough?’ Alison asked.

Kim nodded.

‘Hates you enough?’

‘Very probably,’ Kim answered, as Bryant added the name Dale Preece to his list. Because of her the man had lost everything. Now that one she agreed with.

‘Next?’

‘Prostitution Murders,’ Kim said. ‘And no, that person doesn’t hate me enough even though they think they probably do.’

‘Next?’ Alison said.

Kim swallowed. ‘The Heathcrest Investigation.’