Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone #10)(71)

Right now, she was trying to track down Joel Greene abroad, and searching missing persons to identify the man in the cube. So far, she’d gone back eighteen months and there was no match.

‘Anyone want it?’ Stacey asked. ‘Penn?’

‘Sorry, boss said priority was in finding Duggar, so you’re on your own,’ he said.

‘Alison?’

‘No,’ she said, simply.

‘You still working on Duggar and Nina Croft?’ Stacey asked.

‘Yes, and I think—’

‘You’re wasting your time on Nina Croft,’ Stacey said. ‘It’s not her.’

Alison turned towards her. ‘And what makes you so sure?’

‘Instinct,’ Stacey answered. ‘We’ve all got it. It’s hard to define but every copper relies on it.’

‘And it’s never wrong?’

‘Well, sometimes, I mean…’

‘So, this woman is pretty mean, manipulative, conniving, clever, resourceful and hates your boss with a passion. She fits the profile perfectly but we ignore her because it doesn’t feel right?’

‘Something like that.’

‘Okay, got it. Except what if she also volunteers her legal services at Stourbridge Community Centre. What do you say to that?’

‘Oh shit,’ Stacey said, reaching for the phone.





Ninety-One





‘Bryant, I know you want to get over to the prison, but after what Stacey just told us we need to see Nina Croft first. I get that everyone has their doubts about her involvement, as do I, but we can’t ignore that she may well have had contact with our first two victims,’ she said.

‘What about the Phelpses? There’s no connection to them or to Rubik.’

‘That we know of yet. Leave Alison on it and who knows what she’ll find.’

Bryant glanced her way as he headed towards Cradley Heath.

‘She’s growing on you, isn’t she, Alison?’ Bryant asked.

‘Like some kind of fungus, you mean?’

‘You’re warming to her. I can tell.’

‘Whatever, Bryant,’ she said, turning away.

She wasn’t sure warming was the correct word but she definitely admired the woman’s tenacity. Against all of their better judgement, Alison had felt there was something not quite right and she had found a link.

‘And what are your thoughts about Rubik?’

‘I’m thinking we need to find Duggar as soon as possible. His paws seem to be on everything.’

‘I know we ruled him out initially but right now he’s looking good for it.’

‘And could you sound any more like an American cop show?’ she asked as he parked behind the carpet shop.

‘Watched Law & Order last night,’ he said, smiling.

‘Well, don’t do it again,’ she said as they exited the car and headed along the high street.

‘Reckon she’ll offer us coffee this time?’ Kim asked as they mounted the stairs to Nina Croft’s office.

‘Unlikely,’ Bryant said, reaching her at the office door.

Kim held up her hand to knock and then decided against it. This woman needed no time to prepare.

‘Good morning, Mrs Croft, we—’

Kim stopped speaking as her gaze rested on the figure of Nina Croft behind her desk.

And the person who was sitting on the other side.





Ninety-Two





‘This kid is a real contradiction,’ Stacey said out loud.

No one answered but she continued anyway. The silence was driving her mad.

She’d been looking into Billie Styles for the last half an hour and felt she knew her very well. She was present on every social media platform and her accounts were open and accessible.

‘It’s like she used each platform differently. She took to Twitter to voice her political beliefs, Instagram to post photos of meals and kittens and Facebook to socially interact with friends.’

‘Not unusual,’ Alison said, turning. ‘Social media isn’t a reliable mirror or interpretation as it doesn’t catch everything about us. It’s only a snapshot of how we perceive ourselves.’

‘Say what?’ Stacey asked.

Penn had removed one headphone, which was now resting on the back of his head.

‘Give me three words to describe yourself,’ Alison asked her.

‘Hard-working, passionate…’

‘Not work, your personality.’

‘Fun, geeky, caring.’

Alison nodded. ‘I’d agree with that,’ she said, pressing keys on her phone.

Stacey’s phone dinged. She looked at Alison. ‘You want to be friends on Facebook?’

‘To demonstrate something.’

Stacey accepted and Alison grew quiet. As she read a brief smile touched her lips.

‘What?’ Stacey asked.

‘One minute.’

Stacey glanced at Penn who was now watching with interest.

‘Right, so over the last week you’ve shared some Aunty Acid jokes, very funny. You’ve commented on posts about data protection and GDPR, explaining how it works and you’ve shared a public appeal for a missing dog.’