Page 31 of Guilty Mothers

Toyah answered it. ‘Where are you?’

‘Outside. They won’t let me in,’ Kim heard.

‘He’s my brother; I called him,’ she wailed. ‘I need him.’

Kim nodded to the constable, who keyed his radio with the instruction to allow the man to enter.

‘Does he know what’s happened?’ Kim asked, assuming that Andrea was Tony’s mum too.

‘I told him. He lives in Romsley, just a few miles?—’

‘Toyah, Toyah,’ a male voice called from the hallway.

‘In here,’ the girl croaked.

Kim guessed Tony to be a little older, maybe mid-twenties, but the likeness was unmistakeable. Kim felt sure they were full siblings.

‘Where is she?’ Tony asked, looking Kim’s way while still holding his sobbing sister.

‘She’s in the lounge, but you can’t go in there,’ Kim advised.

He looked as though he wanted to argue.

‘Don’t do it, Tony,’ Toyah snuffled against his chest. ‘Don’t put that picture in your head. It’s awful.’

‘But what’s happened?’ he asked, setting his sister slightly away so he could see her face.

‘Mom was murdered, stabbed. She’s dead, Tony. She’s gone.’

Tony pulled his sister to him again as she cried tears that seemed like they were never going to stop.

‘I called Dad; he’s on his way back from Glasgow. You’re coming home with me.’

Tony looked at Kim over the top of his sister’s head. He appeared calm and in control, and there was no evidence of tears.

‘Can I pack her a bag and get her out of here?’

There were questions that Kim wanted to ask, but as the sound of Toyah’s sobbing increased, she knew the girl was in no fit state to answer right now.

She nodded. ‘We’ll speak to you tomorrow.’

Toyah had walked in on a scene so horrific it would haunt her dreams for years. Right now, she needed to leave and be comforted by family.

Kim went ahead and stood close to the lounge door to block the view. Tony bundled past her and up the stairs. All credit to him, he didn’t even try to look. His sole focus was on his sister.

‘You still here?’ Keats asked, joining her in the doorway.

‘Where else would I be at almost two in the morning?’

‘That’s our theory up in smoke,’ he said, watching Mitch closely.

‘Yep. I’m pretty sure Katie is still safely confined at Bushey Fields, so we ain’t pinning this one on her.’

‘We’re about to start the process of moving the body.’

‘Five minutes, Keats. Let’s just let her kids get out of here first.’

‘Understood,’ he said, moving back towards the forensic techie.