Today's Reading
CHAPTER THREE
It was seven in the morning and just getting light. Vera was sitting in the manager’s office, waiting for more troops to arrive. Dr Keating was outside with the body, hidden from the world by a tent, surrounded by police tape. A couple of CSIs were in Chloe’s room, the door now firmly shut against prying eyes.
Manager. The word stuck in her throat. The folk in charge weren’t house parents now. They were managers. As if they were making widgets, not bringing up children. David Limbrick was with her; he’d been there all night too. The ponytail gave her hope. Once, perhaps, he had been an idealist. He’d become a social worker because he’d cared. The manager of a widget factory wouldn’t have a ponytail.
'Tell me about the dead man,’ she said, looking out of the window at the pale wash above the horizon. 'Josh Woodburn.’
'He came to us through the agency. It’s hard to keep permanent staff. The company took up the references and did the police checks. That always takes for ever.’ He glared at her as if the delay was all her fault. 'Josh had only been filling the gap for six weeks or so. He seemed pleasant enough.’ He looked up at her. 'I didn’t really get to know him. It’s all firefighting here. One crisis after another. And most agency staff don’t stay long.’
So it’s not worth the effort getting to know them?
'And Chloe? Any history of violence?’
'Nothing physical here. Her teachers say she’s aggressive at school. Challenging.’
Well, you would be, wouldn’t you, Vera thought, if that was the only way to get their attention?
NOBODY LISTENS. The words on the page of the diary scorched into her memory.
'I don’t understand why nobody heard anything, saw anything, last night. How did Chloe leave without you knowing?’
'This isn’t a prison, Inspector.’
'But you’d want to know where they all are! And it was dark. Not late I know, but surely they’re not allowed just to wander off.’
Limbrick shut his eyes. He was exhausted. She thought again that he’d been awake all night too. 'They’re supposed to check in with the office, ask permission, but they’re not exactly keepers of rules, these kids. This is a big house and there are ways in and out. Probably more ways than I know.’
'It sounds like chaos!’
He looked up at her with his sad grey eyes. 'Most of the time, it is chaos. We’re under-staffed and under-resourced. Most of our residents have been through trauma. They need counselling and proper psychological support. But the children and adolescent mental health services are stretched too, and when the kids do get to the top of the waiting list, the process feels more like a tick-box exercise.’ For the first time he seemed engaged, angry. 'In the end, most of them will come to you, Inspector. Taking up your time and an expensive prison place.’
She nodded. Now, he seemed brave to her, sticking it out, doing his best.
'What’s that she says about Wicca? That’s witchcraft, isn’t it?’
He shrugged. 'She’s got all sorts of weird ideas.’ A pause. 'Never has her nose out of a book.’
'Have you any idea where Chloe might be? Friends? Extended family?’
He shook his head. 'There are grandparents, but apparently they never got on. I phoned last night, but they hadn’t seen her.’
'She can’t have got far, and we’ve got a watch out for her.’ After all, Vera thought, how far could a fourteen-year-old lass get, when it was dark, and she had no transport?
A uniformed officer was standing outside, guarding the front door. Vera could hear his voice and a mutter of conversation and then the bang of a door, before a big woman pushed her way into the office. She was middle-aged, a peroxide blonde, wearing leggings and a sweatshirt with a tiger’s face on it.
'What the fuck’s going on outside then?’ The voice deeply local and a bit amused.
'This is Tracey.’ Dave gave the woman a smile. Tentative, a kind of warning. 'And this is Detective Inspector Stanhope.’ A pause. 'Josh Woodburn’s been murdered. A dog-walker found him on the edge of the common last night. And Chloe Spence has gone missing.’
A moment’s silence. 'Dave, man, I leave you on your own for one night...’ She looked at them both. 'Are you being serious? This is for real?’
'I’m afraid so.’ Vera had taken to the woman immediately—there was something robust about her, like she’d stand up for the kids in her care—but she was also a potential witness.
'We’ll need a statement. You were watching a movie with the kids yesterday evening?’
'Only with the three of them. Chloe didn’t want to join in.’ Tracey glanced at her watch. 'Look, can this wait until later? I want to get breakfast sorted, make sure they’re out of their beds. Two of them have school to get to, and I don’t like them leaving with empty stomachs.’
'Sure,’ Vera said. 'No rush.’ She was liking the big woman even more.
...
