Silent Scream

Forty

Kim dialled Stacey’s number as Bryant gave their order at the McDonalds drive-thru. It was answered on the second ring.

‘Stace, we’re going to need any addresses you’ve got for the ex-occupants of Crestwood ‘cos we are rapidly running out of staff members.’

‘Yeah, we heard about that here. Woody’s already been down here looking for yer.’

‘Woody’s after me,’ she whispered to Bryant as Stacey tapped her keyboard.

Bryant grimaced.

‘Okay, first one on the list is, oh actually, it’s two of 'em. Twin sisters named Bethany and Nicola Adamson. This address is for Nicola at Brindleyplace in Birmingham.’

Kim read out the address and Bryant jotted it down.

‘Okay, can you work on tracking down that pastor you mentioned before? His name came up again so I think he’s worth a visit. The girls may have talked to him.’

‘On it, Guv.’

‘Thanks, Stace. Anything from Dawson?’

‘Not to me.’

Kim ended the call.

‘We really should have gone back to the station after what happened earlier,’ Bryant said.

Kim knew full well they should have briefed Woody about the hit-and-run and followed the procedure that accompanies the witnessing of any 'traumatic incident' but on her team they'd never get out the station.

'I’ll do a report later and go talk to Woody but we’re running out of time. So far we’ve lost four people that worked at Crestwood at the time it closed.’

She took a bite of the chicken burger. It tasted like a wedge of cardboard placed between two slabs of MDF. She put it aside and took out her mobile phone.

Dawson answered immediately.

‘How’s things?’ she asked.

‘Moving along. Cerys is in the pit with her hand tools so we’re not far away from whatever’s down there.’

Kim could hear the fatigue in his voice. ‘Did you pay a visit to William Payne?’

‘Done, Guv. I placed a check call to ADT to make sure the alarm is working. I cleaned and tested the motion sensors front and back which work on a fifteen foot arc. I got him to move a couple of planters away from the fence and change the battery in Lucy’s emergency response pendant, just to be sure.

‘Oh, and I’ve briefed every patrolling officer to include Payne’s home in their perimeter checks.’

Kim smiled. And that was why he was on the team. There were times that managing Dawson was like mothering a toddler. Some days he tried her patience to the limit and others where he did his job; brilliantly.

‘Just so you know, Guv. It came over the radio. Arthur Connop died.’

Kim said nothing. She had known he wasn't going to make it.

‘SOCO still have the road closed. You never know, there might be something.’

Kim ended the call. 'Connop,' she whispered.

‘Dead?’ Bryant asked.

Kim nodded and then sighed. If she was perfectly honest, she was hard pushed to measure the loss of Arthur Connop. His wife had been emphatically disinterested in his whereabouts. No one they’d spoken to had harboured any affection for the man at all, past or present. Perhaps Maureen might feel his loss from the decrease of beer and cobs sold per week but few would seriously mourn his passing.

Kim would have liked to think that the rude, insufferable man had once been a decent human being who had slowly grown bitter with age but his blatant neglect of his charges ten years ago destroyed the false hope. She suspected that Maureen was right that Arthur had always been selfish and mean ‒ but she now had to wonder if he was more than that. How far would he have gone to cover his tracks?

As Bryant wiped at his mouth with a paper serviette Kim glanced at the dashboard clock. It was just after three and a lot of paperwork lay ahead at the station. It had already been a long and taxing day and she could always start working through the list of occupants tomorrow. Her body demanded a shower and some rest.

‘You want me to head towards that address in Birmingham, then, Guv?’

She smiled and nodded her head.