Page 39 of Guilty Mothers
If she could pinpoint every person who had been around the two mothers, would she eventually have a list that included their killer?
She grabbed the next pile of printouts and began adding to the list.
The ringing of the internal phone startled her.
‘Wood,’ she answered.
‘Got a call for you,’ Jack said before the line silenced for a second.
She introduced herself and gave her title.
‘Hello, it’s Doctor Michaels from Bushey Fields. May I speak to Inspector Stone?’
‘No, but I can get a message to her.’
‘It’s about Katie Hawne. I have an update on her situation.’
Stacey listened with a growing sense of dread.
This was not going to thrill the boss one little bit.
TWENTY-SEVEN
‘Shit,’ Kim said in response to Stacey’s news. ‘How the hell did that happen?
‘She refused the assessment, gathered her things and signed herself out. They tried to persuade her to stay and she threatened them with legal action for false imprisonment, so they had no choice but to let her go.’
‘All right, Stace. Thanks for the update,’ Kim said before ending the call.
‘Damn it,’ she growled, even though the hospital had done nothing wrong. ‘And where the hell is this house?’ she snapped.
‘Deliberately hiding just to piss you off,’ Bryant quipped. ‘And we’re about two minutes away, which is nowhere near long enough for you to shake off your irritation that somebody didn’t do what you told them to do.’
‘You don’t think it was the right thing to suggest?’ she asked. How could he possibly think Katie was stable enough to have been released?
‘Doesn’t matter. She didn’t want the help, and she’d done nothing wrong except a bit of a performance in the holding cells. And after chucking-out time on a Friday night, any one of our overnight guests might do that just as well.’
‘Hmm…’
‘I know you’re not convinced, but there’s nothing more you could have done short of inventing outright lies to keep her there. I’m sure that crossed your mind, but luckily you just let that bright idea sail along.’
‘But I’m right,’ she insisted.
‘Are you ever anything else? And anyway, she obviously trusts Judith.’
‘A woman without one single qualification is advising impressionable people making serious decisions. Don’t open people’s boxes if you’re not qualified to deal with what you find inside.’
‘And on that note, I’m gonna pull up right behind that Lexus.’
Kim hadn’t realised that they’d turned onto a lane where the land was measured in acres rather than feet. The gate to the property was open, and beside the Lexus was a mid-range Ford.
There was no doubt Toyah’s father’s house was bigger than the one she lived in with her mum.
Kim had the strangest idea of the kids being divided equally in the divorce settlement, but she said nothing as they headed for the front door.
It was answered by Tony before they’d had a chance to knock.
‘We’re all in the kitchen,’ he said, opening the door wider to let them in.