Page 83 of First Blood
He nodded his understanding.
‘Okay, folks. Time to get to work,’ she said, finishing her drink.
Kim knew her first visit of the day was straight back to the shelter in Dudley.
Chapter Seventy-Five
Stacey breathed a sigh of relief as Dawson headed off to the canteen for coffee the minute the boss was out the door, as she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about having him sitting opposite.
She had kind of got used to everyone departing after the morning briefing and leaving her alone. She also wasn’t sure how she felt about the can of Diet Coke he’d brought in for her this morning. She’d written him off as a colleague to be ignored at worst and tolerated at best. He’d been a total arse all week but one act of kindness and she was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. Yep, people pleaser all the way, she acknowledged to herself. She resolved to respond if he spoke to her, but no more trying to make him like her. She was over it.
She bent down to retrieve her satchel from the floor and started when she raised her head at the figure who had appeared soundlessly in the doorway.
‘Boss?’ she questioned. Her colleague had been subjected to a couple of one-on-one conversations this week but she’d escaped unharmed. Her hand trembled on the fastener catch of the bag. What had she done wrong? Was it the Hayley Smart thing she’d been worrying about all night?
‘You know, Stace, just in case you were wondering, you’re doing a cracking job. Keep it up.’
‘Th-thanks, boss,’ she said, feeling the heat rush into her cheeks. Strangely, compliments were harder for her to take than reprimands. She knew what to do with one of those; try harder.
The boss turned and left as the smile found its way to her lips. Not only had the boss complimented her, she had nipped back to the office to do it. Had the boss been in her flat last night or more importantly had she been in her head? Either way Stacey was grateful for the shortest pep talk she’d ever received.
She sat up straight and took out the notebook that had accompanied her on every training course she’d attended in the last two years. Hardcover pink with the words ‘You got this’ scrawled across the front in purple. A present from her father when she’d started detective training.
If she recalled correctly her notes on accessing and using ViSOR were pretty near to the front.
Most people, herself included at one point, thought the register was a long list of names, date of birth and address of known sex offenders. She now knew it was a management tool used by Law Enforcement, National Offender Management Service and other agencies to manage registerable sexual offenders, other sexual offenders, violent offenders, dangerous offenders, terrorist offenders and potentially dangerous persons; it enabled each agency to share information.
There were different levels of training, and she’d received the Basic Level Access Learning Programme which was designed for people to access information and intelligence but did not give access or responsibility to update the system.
‘Ah, there you are,’ she said out loud.
‘Yep, I haven’t moved,’ Dawson responded, startling her. Yes, she really had forgotten he was still sitting there.
She ignored him and glanced at the information on the board. All of the victims.
She couldn’t search out anything for the six years’ dead victim highlighted by Keats so she put a line through that name.
She was unsurprised to see Lester Jackson’s name on ViSOR. They knew for a fact he’d sexually abused his niece. She was even less surprised to see Luke Fenton’s name on it, so there was one more name left to try.
She typed in the name of the homeless man, Thomas Deeley, murdered in Wolverhampton just under a week ago.
Stacey let out a long breath.
Yes, he was there as well.
A link to all three male victims.
Was the killer taking his victims from ViSOR?
Stacey was aware of the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme; commonly known as Sarah’s Law, it allowed anyone to ask the police in England and Wales if someone with access to a child has a record for child sexual offences. But she also knew that Joe Public couldn’t just type in a name and get a result.
So, if he wasn’t getting details from ViSOR, how the hell was he getting access to information about these victims?
Chapter Seventy-Six
Kim tapped her fingers impatiently as she waited for the gates to open. Three of the deaths on the boards back in the squad room could be linked back to this shelter in one way or another and today she wanted answers.
Someone inside these gates knew something and she wasn’t leaving until she’d found out who and what.
