Page 36 of Stolen Ones
‘Go on,’ Stacey said, sitting forward.
‘By my count, over the years she’s done at least ten documentaries – four of those were specifically about Melody and the rest were various unsolved crimes. Some were UK and a couple were for cable channels in other countries. She’s done breakfast television a dozen times and that seems to be the big earner.’
‘How much?’
‘By my calculations, in the last fifteen years the family has made at least fifty-three thousand pounds from selling the tokens they’ve been sent. There’s no way of knowing what payment or expenses Lyla has made from forty-three articles in the local and national press and the dozens of magazine stories, or what the family received in cash and vouchers.’
‘I can hear the disapproval in your voice,’ Stacey said, and she didn’t disagree.
‘Somehow, they managed to move off Hollytree, which I don’t blame anyone for doing, but they profited from the disappearance and probable murder of their daughter or sister or whatever. It just doesn’t sit well that the family were able to—’
Penn stopped speaking as his phone rang, surprising them both.
He answered it and listened, his face freezing by the second.
He offered his thanks and ended the call.
‘I’d hold off on that medal for Harte’s good works for a minute, Stace,’ he said, making another call.
Twenty
‘You reckon we can find a way to tie Steven Harte to Suzie Keene?’ Bryant asked as they headed back to the station.
‘And charge him with what, taking her on holiday? You heard Suzie. He fed her, clothed her, gave her a big bed and a bathroom, educated her and then sent her home. If Harte was responsible, what could she say in court that would help us put him away?’
‘He still kidnapped her. That’s a charge,’ he argued.
‘And Suzie Keene, the victim, would be a fabulous witness…for the defence.’
‘I can’t get my head around it,’ Bryant said. ‘She was gone for a whole year. That’s like ten years to a kid. She wasn’t lonely. She didn’t feel isolated. He never hurt her. He never even touched her, so what the hell did he take her for?’
‘Bryant, on this occasion you are not alone in your confusion.’
‘See, that doesn’t give me any reassurance. I feel safer when I don’t get it but you do. It’s like when I was a kid and my mum—’
He shut up as her phone rang.
‘Probably lucky you didn’t get to finish that thought,’ she said, taking out her phone and hitting loudspeaker.
‘Penn,’ she answered. ‘Brilliant timing, as I think Bryant was about to compare me to his mother, which wouldn’t have done him…’
‘Boss, we’ve had a report. Bones have been found.’
Kim felt a cool shiver crawl down her spine.
‘Okay. Where are we going?’
Bryant was now listening intently.
‘That’s the thing, boss. They’ve been found at Hawne Park.’
‘In Halesowen? Didn’t Stacey mention that as one of—’
‘Yeah, boss. Steven Harte has been funding small projects there for years.’
Bryant had already done a full circle of the traffic island and was heading towards the location.
She thanked Penn, ended the call and scrolled down her contacts. Her boss answered almost immediately.
