Play Dead (D.I. Kim Stone, #4)(61)

The kitchen door was open, leading into a spacious glass conservatory.

‘Please excuse the mess, I have a party tomorrow to prepare for,’ the woman said, wiping her hands on a tea towel.

Kim saw that her shoulders had already filled with tension.

‘We’re here about Louise,’ Bryant said gently.

Mrs Hickman nodded. ‘Of course you are.’

The woman leaned back against the counter top and slid her hands into the pockets of her three-quarter-length cotton trousers.

She appeared resigned to hearing something negative.

‘Mrs Hickman, could you tell us the last time you saw your daughter?’

‘December twenty-fifth in oh five,’ she said immediately.

Eleven years. Considerably longer than the time since their victim had been murdered.

‘You remember so clearly?’ Kim asked.

‘Yes, Inspector, I do. Now what can I do for you?’

‘Could you please confirm that your daughter Louise gave birth to a child when she was in her mid-teens?’

Mrs Hickman nodded. ‘Three days before her sixteenth birthday,’ she said and folded her arms. ‘Now will you please tell me why you are here?’

She appeared eager to learn what she had already ascertained was going to be bad news. Kim got the impression she had been waiting for news for years.

‘Please sit down, Mrs Hickman,’ Bryant advised.

‘I’m perfectly fine, thank you.’

Kim took a step forwards. ‘We have uncovered the body of a female, and we have reason to believe it is Louise.’

A small cry escaped from her lips. It may have been the news she was expecting, but it had impacted her all the same.

She stepped around to the dining table and pulled out a chair. Bryant held out a hand to steady her but she waved it away.

Bryant stepped back as Kim took a seat opposite the woman, whose head had fallen into her hands.

It was a long moment before she quietly shook her head and raised it. Although her eyes were red, Kim was surprised to see there were no actual tears.

‘It was only a matter of time,’ she whispered, staring down at the table.

‘Why do you say that?’ Kim asked.

‘How did it happen?’ Mrs Hickman asked, finally meeting her gaze. Kim saw a deep sadness in her eyes, but she couldn’t help feeling that this woman had already grieved for the loss of her child.

‘There is no gentle way to tell you that your daughter was murdered, Mrs Hickman,’ Kim said, trying to feel her way through this situation.

‘Was it drugs related?’ the woman asked.

Kim shook her head. Mrs Hickman obviously thought it was a recent death and yet eleven years of absence had stood between them.

Kim wanted a better understanding of this situation before she revealed the fact that Louise had been dead for years.

‘You haven’t seen Louise for some years, Mrs Hickman. Would you mind sharing the reason for that?’

She nodded and stared over her head. ‘I’m not going to go into too much detail, but, much as it pains me to admit it, my daughter was not a pleasant child. My late husband and I probably spoiled her as she was our only one, but by the time we realised that her behaviour was beyond precocious it was already too late.

‘Every different phase we assumed she would outgrow. We tried to rein her in but she had no fear of any consequences. We tried everything, but nothing stopped the bad behaviour. It’s difficult to discipline a child who simply doesn’t care.

‘Anyway, when she came home and told us she was pregnant and she intended to keep the child we actually hoped it would be the making of her. But she enjoyed the pregnancy more than the child.’

Kim frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘She was the centre of attention, Inspector. The only girl taking a growing bump to school. She enjoyed the attention of being unique. Until the baby was born. Of course we supported her. She lived here with Marcus and we did everything we could but once her friends stopped coming round she lost complete interest in her son.

‘One day she left the house without telling me. I had no idea until I heard the baby’s cries from upstairs. He was wet and hungry, and she had just left him. We argued constantly about her refusal to take care of her child, but as usual she cared nothing for the consequences of her actions.’

Kim hadn’t noticed Bryant sit down at the table.

‘So you took care of her child?’ Kim asked.

‘Of course. The time spent away got longer and longer. First a few days, then a few weeks and then months. This continued until Christmas Day eleven years ago when Marcus was five.’

She took a breath and continued. ‘She stormed in on Christmas morning after being gone for almost four months. She was drunk and tried to take Marcus. He was terrified. He barely knew her. She only wanted him because she’d been told she had a good chance of getting a council flat if she had a child. Her father physically threw her out and told her not to come back until she’d cleaned up her act. We never saw her again, but we took precautions in case it happened again.’

Kim assumed they had applied for guardianship of Marcus to ensure his safety.

Mrs Hickman looked around at the baking ingredients and smiled. ‘He insisted on a home-made cake like normal except this time it came with the proviso that I don’t tell his friends. Her son is healthy and happy, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t think of Louise every day,’ she said as the first tear fell from her eye. ‘I always had hope that she could turn her life around but…’