Page 86 of First Blood
He scrolled through the results and could find nothing that made any sense using all five items included in the search term.
On the second page of results, Google had decided he had lost his mind and was putting a blue line through two of his criteria, as though he didn’t know what he was searching for.
He smiled when he saw some of the results he’d been offered.
But as he looked more closely the smile died on his face and he began to read.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Kim took the seat in the viewing room that meant she could see the screens as they talked to the security guard.
Half of her mind was still on the information Stacey had relayed by phone. That Tommy Deeley had been a registered sex offender too. She thought back to the interview she’d seen with Butcher Bill when he’d called the victim a dirty bastard. Had he known about Tommy Deeley’s past? Had he known that the man had been jailed twenty years ago for sexually assaulting a twelve-year-old girl when he’d been a volunteer at a Wednesfield youth club? She briefly wondered if Butcher Bill was responsible for all the murders, but quickly dismissed the thought. The man could barely remain sober long enough to tie his own shoelaces.
There was still something inside her that said all the murders were linked. A similar voice in her head whispered that someone from this shelter was somehow involved, but how those two voices could come together in harmony she had not the faintest idea.
She put the thoughts out of her mind and tried to focus on the cases that were officially hers.
She turned her attention on the security guard. ‘So, Jason, you’ve been here?…’
‘Three and a half years. Used to be a doorman but it all got a bit crazy out there. Too many drugs and too many knives.’
Kim understood. Knife crime was continually on the increase and if you weren’t a police officer it wasn’t what you expected to deal with when you put your uniform on for a night shift.
He was a big man, though that didn’t automatically mean he relished conflict.
‘So, you’ve seen quite a few of these women come and go in that time,’ she said, nodding towards the screens.
While he considered her question she took a moment to look at what was currently on offer. The scenes were not dissimilar to those she’d seen two days ago.
Dawn, the nutritionist had a group of ladies in the kitchen, a couple of women were waiting in line for a haircut. Curt or Carl was up a ladder in an upstairs corridor and the other twin was talking to one of the women while he changed a plug on a lamp in the dining room.
‘Yeah, I’ve seen a fair few come and go but don’t get involved with them,’ he offered, which seemed to be more answer than she’d requested.
‘I hadn’t thought that you did, Jason.’
He looked forward to the gate and then back to the screens. ‘I sit here. My job is at the front of the building, making sure no one gets in. I rarely go back there,’ he said, nodding towards the door that led to the body of the building.
‘How well did you know Hayley Smart?’ Kim asked.
‘Not very. She was the sort who just kept to herself. She chatted with a couple of the ladies but mainly just played with her kid.’
‘Did Luke Fenton ever come here?’ Kim asked. It wasn’t uncommon for boyfriends and husbands to turn up at shelters and make a scene.
He nodded. ‘One time he turned up. Didn’t get past the gate. Called the police, but he disappeared so I cancelled ’em, and one of the boys went out and made sure he’d gone.’
‘The boys?’ she asked.
‘Twins,’ he said, nodding towards the screen. ‘Not sure which one it was now,’ he said with a wide smile.
Kim glanced back at the screens.
The group in the kitchen had all moved away and Dawn was washing up.
A different woman was sitting in the salon chair being tended by Nigel. And Curtis’s or Carl’s ladder was in a different part of the house.
The other twin was still changing a plug.
Chapter Eighty
