Page 126 of Dying Truth
Stacey was working her way through the printout the old-fashioned way, how she’d been taught at school. She placed a ruler on the printout and travelled down the page one row at a time. Numbers were beginning to merge together and dance across the page.
She sat back and rubbed her eyes for a minute.
‘You know, Stace, sometimes you gotta listen to experience…’
‘Yeah, yeah, Kev,’ she said, glancing back at the ruler lying idle across the page.
‘It may surprise you but just now and again I know what I’m talking about.’
‘Hmm,’ she said, looking at the last two records she’d checked.
She frowned.
‘Your time would be better spent putting that down and helping me read through these…’
‘Shush, Kev,’ she said sitting forward.
‘I swear to God, Stace. You’re as stubborn as…’
She moved the ruler back to the previous record and checked each individual number.
‘Kev, write this down…’ she said, no longer trusting her own number-weary eyes.
He huffed but picked up a pen.
‘… seven, one, three, three, six, two, nine, two, six, nine, one.’
‘Yep,’ he said.
She lowered the ruler and did the same again.
‘Now, write this down underneath: seven, one, three, three, six, two, nine, two, six, nine, one.’
He frowned at her. ‘Why have you just given me the same number twice?’
‘Kev, stop what you’re doing and tap into the Heathcrest website. I think I’ve finally got something.’
Eighty-Eight
‘I’m just not sure that means as much as you’d like it to,’ Bryant said, once they were back in the car.
‘Bryant, if the father of the child knew about the baby and was happy about it, why the hell didn’t he come forward and say something when both his girlfriend and baby died?’
‘Frightened, I’d imagine,’ Bryant said. ‘We’re talking kids. Lorraine was barely fifteen…’
‘And the fact she was meeting him that night doesn’t make you think the father of the child could be involved in her untimely accident, and if you say “they’re just kids” once more, I’ll punch you where the bruises won’t show.’
He stared silently out of the window.
‘Look, Bryant, I’ve tried to protect you from this fact but kids do bad shit too. Not as much as adults, admittedly, but we do have to consider the possibility that—’
‘Just not feeling it, guv,’ he said, tightly.
‘Bryant, did you retire and not bother to let me know? Cos right now your gut instinct is out shopping with your missus.’
‘There is the possibility the father of the child wasn’t a kid. Strange how the funding for the DNA ran out before they got round to testing the adults. Lorraine spent a lot of time with her coach. There were other teachers who could have taken advantage of a young girl out of her depth who was just trying to fit in. Sickening, guv, but we know it happens.’
Kim opened her mouth to concede the point, but the ring of her phone made her close it again.
