‘Anything I can help with?’ Penn offered.
‘Took your time offering there, buddy. You okay?’ she asked, looking closer. There was a line of tension running along his jawbone. Penn was the first person to offer to help anyone, and the fact that he hadn’t meant something was distracting him.
‘I’m good, thanks, Stace.’
‘Jasper okay?’ she asked.
The tension line tightened. ‘Yeah, he’s good.’
‘Hey, if there’s anything wrong with my cooking buddy, I’ll—’
‘He’s fine. Just leave it.’
The second sentence cancelled out any truth in his assurance that all was well.
‘Okay, but if you wanna talk about—’
‘He snuck out of Billy’s, and he likes a girl,’ Penn blurted out.
Stacey waited.
Penn stared at her meaningfully as though she should get it.
‘Sorry, Penn. You’re gonna have to help me out here. What do you mean he snuck out? Did he go alone? Did Billy’s mum not know?’
‘I mean he didn’t tell me he and Billy were going out. I thought he was just gonna play Xbox.’
‘He’s sixteen years old. He went out with his mate. Big deal.’
‘Don’t minimise what he—’
‘Well, don’t blow it out of proportion then. What part of being sixteen don’t you remember? He’s a good lad. Don’t turn his Down’s into your disability.’
‘Bloody hell, Stace,’ Penn said as some of the tension left his face. ‘Don’t beat around the bush.’
‘Sorry, didn’t mean to be harsh, but you gotta trust him. He’s amazing and what’s wrong with him liking a girl?’
‘She doesn’t have Down’s,’ he answered.
‘So what?’ Alison asked.
‘Well, if he ever gets the courage to talk to her, she’ll probably reject him and then…’
‘Oh, Penn,’ Stacey said with despair.
Alison turned towards Penn and took over. ‘See these teeth – crooked as a mountain range when I was a kid. Asked a boy out and he said no because of my braces. I mean, his loss, obviously, but it broke my heart.’
Penn smiled tolerantly. ‘Not exactly the same thing though. You could straighten your teeth.’
‘The heartbreak was real at the time, Penn. The reason didn’t matter.’
‘Want to know how many times I got rejected because I’m black?’ Stacey asked. ‘And no amount of braces was gonna change that. What we’re saying is that heartbreak when you’re a teenager is inevitable, matey. It’s going to happen and you can’t protect him from everything.’
Penn held up his phone. ‘He’s texted. He wants to stay at Billy’s again tonight.’
‘Bloody hell, that kid gets out more than I do,’ Alison said.
Stacey caught his gaze. ‘You know, Penn, maybe if you had a bit more going on in your own social life, you wouldn’t be obsessing so much over loosening the reins on Jasper.’
‘Okay, I feel truly outnumbered now so let’s get back to your work problem, Stace, cos I can’t cope with both of you.’
‘I’m just not sure how much the boss’s new criteria is gonna help me narrow these girls down.’
‘I thought you were down to a shortlist of five,’ Alison said.
‘That was for girls that went missing in ’98. We’ve got a whole new batch to consider for the year 2000. I’ll check any details against the dental records I’ve already got, but none of these others fit the specifics I’ve just had from the boss.’
‘Which are?’ Penn asked.
‘Troubled, possibly abused, neglected or something?’ she said, turning back to the screen.
‘Why? Grace is none of the above,’ Alison said.
‘How do we know?’ Penn asked.
‘Boss said they’re a proper little team,’ Stacey said. ‘I’ve checked out the whole family and there is absolutely no evidence of any kind of mistreatment.’
‘Not always obvious to outsiders,’ Alison said. ‘And as she’s the current victim, the one who we’re hoping is still alive, I’d be focusing on—’
‘Without actually ringing up Claire Lennard and asking if she beats, starves or neglects her child, I have absolutely no way— Oh, hang on,’ Stacey said, pressing a few keys. The day-care centre had sent over all the footage they had of Grace for the day she disappeared. There were seven files, the last two being what the boss had already viewed at the scene on Monday. It had all been sent to Ridgepoint for the techies to interrogate forensically.
She loaded the footage of the events later in the day. Grace wasn’t hard to spot given the photo on the board.
Stacey watched as the little girl appeared for the roll call as all the staff and children gathered outside the shed at the end of the garden. Grace stepped in and out of the sunlight as she moved around the groups. Stacey couldn’t help but smile at the obvious excitement of something out of the ordinary happening on a bright, sunny August day. As the sun moved slowly around, the group was cut in half by the shadow being cast from the shed.
Stacey watched the girl for any signs of isolation, sadness, of Grace appearing withdrawn or uncomfortable. She saw nothing as the girl bobbed around amongst her peers.
Stacey continued to watch her until the moment they were allowed to resume normal activities. Grace stepped out of the shadow of the shed and into the sunlight as she headed back to the planting spot out of sight.
Stacey’s smile turned to a frown as she rewound the footage by just ten seconds to where Grace stepped out of the shade and into the sun.
She watched it again and the frown stayed on her face.
‘What’s up?’ Alison asked from across the room.
‘Maybe nothing but give me a minute. There’s something I need to check.’
Stacey went back to the first file of footage to see if her suspicion was correct.
Fifty-Three
‘Wait here,’ Kim said as Bryant parked the car in front of an end terrace less than a mile away from The Dog in Tipton. Gum’s registered address was within staggering distance of his favourite watering hole.
The exterior of the property appeared to be a visual representation of the man himself: neglected, worn out, unkempt, derelict. No one else needed to see what his life had become.
Bryant took no offence as he undid his seat belt and sat back in his chair.
She got out of the car and waded through the weeds and moss-covered path to get to the house. Four bin liners of rubbish were attracting a colony of flies outside his front door. The stench was overpowering.
She knocked the door, already wondering if she really wanted to enter, but those thoughts were pushed aside by the knowledge that this man had once been a great detective and many families owed him for achieving justice on their behalf.
‘What the fuck do you want?’ he asked, opening the door.
‘A minute of your time,’ she said, keeping his arrest and conviction record in her mind.
‘You can buy it at The Dog at seven o’clock,’ he said, attempting to close the door, but her foot was already in the way.