Page 138 of Child's Play
Kim sat outside the property for just a few minutes before getting out of the car.
She had just finished questioning Eric Hanson following the events of two nights ago. Luckily, Veronica’s twenty miles an hour speed had caused nothing more than a fractured rib, a dislocated shoulder and mild concussion.
Despite the lack of forensic evidence against him, bar the fingerprint on the board game wrapper, Eric had confessed to all the murders offering a blow-by-blow account of each one. He had recounted the murder of his brother-in-law with no more emotion than the others, referring to him as a dirty old bastard.
Eric had gone on to describe a childhood so warped and twisted that she had struggled to remember she was speaking to a fully grown man and not an injured young boy.
He had openly explained how his one single possession left behind by his father had been sold to buy books for his sister. He told of his grandmother removing Beth from school, and the beatings he’d received if he even spoke during lesson time. He explained that he’d also been taken out of school because his nan hadn’t been prepared to traipse down to the school for just one.
But most of all he spoke of being ignored, of being made to feel invisible, worthless. When he’d read of the suicide of Stevie’s brother, Ryan, it had brought back every inadequate feeling he’d ever had, which he’d buried after killing the person who had caused it.
Throughout the four hours it had taken for his statement Kim had forced herself to remember that she was questioning a man that had killed four people including the brutal murder of his grandmother on the spider’s web. Four families changed for ever because of one damaged, broken soul.
Ellie Lewis had been released from hospital the following day with her physical injuries treated.
Kim had no clue about the long-term psychological scars of her ordeal. Her phone was switched off, her rented address empty and her private clients cancelled.
Right now, Ellie Lewis did not want to be found by anyone, and Kim could respect that.
Beth Nixon was preparing to bury the husband who had been murdered by her own brother. The grief and the love had been real and she was unlikely to speak to her brother again.
Jared and Serena were making the most of the publicity surrounding the Brainbox event to try to defend the whole process, although public opinion was not on their side.
She’d caught up with Penn, who had recounted the events of the service station murders and his colleague’s involvement. She knew he’d played down what had happened with his brother at the old go-karting track, but Travis had filled her in fully. She’d met people like Doug before; officers who wanted promotion without the work, officers who felt they were entitled to more without the hard graft. It seemed that over the years Doug had grown steadily more bitter and resentful of the people around him as they progressed. Travis admitted that he’d advised Doug against taking the sergeant’s exam a third time, pretty much sealing his fate. Kim wondered if that had been the straw that had broken that particular camel’s back.
She knew that Penn would beat himself up for a long time for not spotting his colleague’s true nature earlier, but he’d stuck with his instinct that there was something amiss in the case against Gregor Nuryef, who was back home with his wife and children. She was proud of her colleague’s unwillingness to let it go and to fight hard for the truth.
And whatever had been wrong with Stacey was all good now. She’d turned up for work the day after they’d caught Hanson with a spring in her step and a smile that blinded them all. First into the office at 7a.m. she had shared her news with Kim before the others had arrived. Kim was truly happy for the constable and thought the two of them made a pretty good match.
And Bryant, as ever, was Bryant.
Despite the slow start due to Woody’s restrictions, the case had been exhausting, taking them away from their loved ones as they tried to unravel sibling rivalry, neglect, cruelty and lies.
And once the statements had been signed just one person had remained on her mind, she thought, as she knocked the door to the three-storey town house.
Veronica answered with a quizzical expression.
‘May I come in?’
Veronica frowned. ‘I gave my statement. Is there…’
‘Veronica, will you please just let me in?’
‘Of course,’ she said, stepping aside.
Kim headed up the stairs to the library on the first floor.
She was not surprised to see the box of exercise books from their childhood nestled in the corner. However painful the past, it was still her history.
‘Is there… did I forget…’
‘Veronica, everything is fine. You’re not being charged with anything. It was an accident; I am your witness and the man is very much alive.’
‘Oh, okay,’ she said, relaxing visibly. ‘So, why are you…’
‘I just wanted to talk,’ Kim said, reading her surprise. ‘Is it really so difficult to believe that someone might want to come round for a chat with you?’
‘You? Yes, definitely,’ she said, with a glint of amusement. ‘You seem even less socially adjusted than I am.’
