Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone #10)(34)

She paused but no one spoke.

‘Penn, Stace, there was another incident a couple of hours ago. A middle-aged couple in a burnt-out car parked outside the old speedway site in Cradley. All relevant,’ she said.

They were getting no more detail than that. The vision of her foster parents burnt and blackened following the motorway crash was something she wouldn’t, couldn’t, dwell on.

‘So, this person is trying to hurt you?’ Stacey asked, wide-eyed.

‘It appears so,’ Kim answered.

‘It’s about pain not death,’ Penn said. ‘They want you to suffer.’

Kim nodded.

‘Hang on, we don’t know that for certain,’ Alison said. ‘This could all be a warm-up to something. The end game could be death.’

Kim turned. ‘Thanks for talking about my potential murder without one ounce of emotion.’

‘You’re welcome,’ she said. ‘But if he hates you enough to do all this then it’s pretty safe to assume he wants you dead.’

‘Guys,’ she said, turning back, ‘I’ve decided it’s okay for everyone to ignore what Alison has to say.’

No one laughed.

‘That was a joke,’ she explained. ‘Although you should also know that Alison is here to watch me,’ Kim said. ‘She’s here to observe my behaviour, monitor my performance and report back on any noticeable changes in my personality as a result of working this case.’

Alison didn’t argue.

‘She’s gonna be a bit bored then?’ Stacey observed.

Kim smiled at the vote of confidence.

‘Well, let’s make sure she’s busy enough that she leaves me alone,’ Kim answered.

‘Sitting here,’ Alison said, waving her hand.

Kim ignored her. ‘But tomorrow she’ll be looking at some potential suspects we’ve highlighted from previous cases and—’

‘Symes on the list?’ Stacey asked, demonstrating her eagerness to get cracking straight away. Her analytical brain relished any new information.

‘Oh, yeah, he’s on the list,’ Bryant said. ‘Along with Nina Croft, Dale Preece and—’

‘It’s not him,’ Kim said, definitely.

‘To be fair, boss, he does have reason, although Symes really does hate—’

‘Thanks, Stace,’ Kim said. She was fully aware of the level of that man’s hatred.

‘But surely there are more people than that who hate—’

‘Cheers, Penn,’ Kim said, folding her arms.

‘Sorry, what I meant was, you’ve worked some pretty big cases and over time you’ve destroyed a lot of lives.’

‘And are we even sure it’s from a case you’ve worked?’ Stacey asked. ‘I mean there’s your whole past to look at. I’m sure over the years we could come up with dozens of…’ Stacey’s words trailed away as she realised what she was saying.

The room was silent for a few seconds before Kim surprised them all by laughing out loud. She’d expected many things from her team but their ability to release some of the tension from her body had not been one of them.

‘Well, thanks guys for being so enthusiastic and honest about the volume of people that could hate me,’ she said, putting her hands in her pockets.

‘And work colleagues,’ Bryant piped up with a grin.

‘Consultants,’ Alison added.

‘Neighbours,’ Penn said.

‘School kids,’ Stacey said.

‘Old friends… nah,’ Bryant said, getting a chuckle from them all.

Kim rolled her eyes. ‘Nice roasting, guys,’ she said. ‘Now bugger off home and we’ll start fresh tomorrow.’

Stacey caught her eye and a silent conversation took place.

I’m sorry, I should have trusted you.

Forget it and move on.

Stacey grabbed her bag and headed out of the door behind Penn.

Alison clicked her briefcase shut. ‘That was the right thing to do,’ she said.

‘Oh yeah, and your approval was tantamount in my decision-making process.’

Alison shook her head wearily.

‘Hey, you okay?’ Kim asked.

‘Of course, why?’

‘Cos, I swear to God you tried to make a joke just then when we—’

‘Good night, Inspector,’ she said, following the others out the door.

‘Can’t help it, can you?’ Bryant asked, smiling.

She shrugged. ‘She needs to loosen up a bit.’

‘As all my responses to that are way too obvious I’ll ask instead if you’re okay?’

‘It went well,’ she said, moving towards The Bowl to get her jacket.

‘Back to the future,’ he said, suddenly.

‘Huh?’

‘This case is like the film. We have to go back to the past to find our killer and to predict the future.’

Kim understood and agreed with having to go backwards. ‘But the future isn’t important in this…’

‘Yes it is. We have to think forward to what might happen if we don’t catch him soon. Like, which traumatic event in your life is he gonna target next?’