After checking the warrant card, the female stepped out of the office. A couple of door buzzes later, the woman stood before her.
‘May I help you?’
‘Detective Inspector Kim Stone. I’d like to speak to the Dunn girls.’
‘I’m Elaine, and I’m sorry but that’s not possible.’
The tone was not unpleasant but it was firm.
Kim had to remember that Bryant was not beside her with his endless supply of manners. She tried to think how he might handle this situation.
‘I understand this may be a little unorthodox but I could really do with just a quick word … please.’
Elaine shook her head. ‘I’m sorry but I can’t allow you to …’
‘Is there someone else I can speak to?’ Kim asked, cutting her off. Damn it, she had tried.
Elaine glanced into the office to where a man now sat.
She put two fingers of her right hand to her lips. He nodded in response to the smoking gesture.
‘Come with me,’ Elaine said, heading towards the exit doors. Kim followed until they were around the side of the building and out of view.
Elaine took a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the cardigan pocket. She put one to her mouth and lit it.
Kim leaned back against the wall. ‘Look, I know this is highly irregular but there’s been a development in the case. I really need to speak to them … or even one of them.’
‘They are both very vulnerable. You’re not trained …’
‘Oh, come on Elaine, help me out here. Don’t force me to go through a process that will end with some snot-nosed, jobsworth psychologist telling me I can’t speak to them.’
Elaine smiled. ‘There’s no process needed. I am that snot-nosed, jobsworth psychologist and I’m telling you right now that you can’t speak to them.’
Shit, Kim thought, that had worked well.
Kim decided to go with the only tactic she knew. Honesty.
‘Okay, here it is. I don’t think that Leonard Dunn was acting alone. I think there was someone else in that room during at least one of the films.’
Elaine closed her eyes. ‘Ohhh … shit …’
‘I want them, Elaine. I want to get whoever it is that, at least, spectated or, at worst, participated.’
Elaine took another draw on the cigarette.
‘Neither of the girls are volunteering a great deal of information as yet. I’m getting the occasional yes and no answer but the questions have to be properly phrased to get any response at all.’
Yeah, Kim knew. Abusers found the victim’s most vulnerable point and used it as a threat to maintain silence. The physical removal of the abuser did not remove the fear. Any threats that he had made would stay with them for a very long time.
Answering yes or no was not as bad as a full description. In a young, naive mind it was a way of avoiding the danger that came from telling the truth.
‘So, can I speak to them?’
Elaine took one last draw on the smoke and shook her head emphatically.
‘Unless you just got four years of training during my fag break the answer is still no.’
‘Jesus, didn’t you hear …’
‘I heard everything you said and I want anyone involved arrested as much as you do.’
Kim took a look at her face and believed her. Her own job was bad enough but Elaine’s was a whole new level. She was paid to tease and elicit information from damaged young minds. If she did her job well she was rewarded with the most horrific stories one could imagine. Some kind of prize that was.
For once Kim fought her natural instinct and kept quiet.
‘I will talk to the girls and you may be present, but if you interact in any way, I’ll end it. Clear?’
It wasn’t ideal. Kim wanted to ask her own questions in her own way, but she got the feeling it was this or nothing.
‘Okay, clear.’
‘Right, is there anything in particular that you want me to ask?’
Kim nodded and spoke without hesitation.
‘Yes, I want to know if the other person in that room was their mother.’
TWENTY-FOUR
Kim was pleased to see that the girls had been kept together. She suspected it would only be a matter of days until they were reunited with their mother. With Wendy Dunn having been cleared of any involvement, the decision to reunite the family would be imminent.
Although small, the room held two single beds separated by a bedside table. A small wardrobe and dressing table completed the furnishings. Kim found the room far less stark than the ones she had stayed in as a child. One simple word had driven every decision on furnishing and decoration: functional.
These white walls were decorated with a painting of red and green Ivy that travelled around the room. The bedding and pillows were a mismatch of Disney characters.
The girls sat on the floor between the two beds, both dressed in onesies. Daisy was a Dalmatian and Louisa an owl. The air was permeated with the smell of soap and shampoo from their freshly washed hair.
Suddenly, Kim’s heart ached. For a split second before she’d noticed them, Daisy’s expression had been open-mouthed and joyful as she entertained her sister with a teddy bear in shorts.
But now the face was closed and Kim understood it. However horrendous Daisy’s life had been, it had been familiar. And although fearful, she had known the people around her. There had been constants: her mother, her friends, her possessions. And now all of that had been replaced with strangers and constant questions continually returning her to the memories.
Kim hated that she was responsible for inflicting further pain.
‘Hi girls, what are you playing?’ Elaine asked, sitting on the floor.
Kim noted that she sat close to the girls but not too close. She made sure that there was less space between the two girls than between them and her, placing her firmly on the outside of their circle, without threat.
Kim stood in the doorway as Daisy’s eyes gazed upon her.
‘This lady is a friend of mine. Just pretend she’s not here. She’s not going to ask you any questions or do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, okay?’
Daisy looked away, unconvinced and Kim didn’t blame her.
‘Daisy, I just want to ask a couple of questions if that’s okay.’
Daisy glanced at her sister who looked at everyone in the room.
‘Sweetheart, I want you to think back to when you were downstairs.’
Kim noticed the psychologist didn’t name the room specifically or use any words that would force the child’s memory. Daisy had the freedom to travel there herself.
The child blinked furiously but she offered no response. The teddy bear remained gripped in her hand.
‘Sweetie, was there anyone else in the room?’
Daisy glanced at her sister but offered no response.
‘Sweetie, did your mommy ever come down to the basement?’
Again the glance at her sister.
Shit, Kim realised, that had been the threat. The bastard had told her that if she ever told the truth something bad would happen to her sister. And she was still fearful of that now. An older sister protecting her sibling. Kim got it. She had been the older sister, only by a few minutes, but she would have protected Mikey with her life.
Kim felt the hope draining away. No wonder she wouldn’t speak, and Kim would push it no further. She stepped forward to tap Elaine on the shoulder. It was over. She would not cause this girl any more pain.
As her hand hovered over Elaine’s shoulder, Daisy turned and glared at her and Kim stopped dead.
Her eyes were beseeching, her mouth tense. Daisy was trying to tell her something.
She appraised the girl from head to toe and the simplicity of the truth stared her in the face.