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She nodded slowly. The exaggeration of her symptoms was no longer required. The actuality would arrive soon enough.
Kim stood. ‘Take care, Mrs Danks.’
She was heading for the door when she heard a voice barely louder than a whisper.
‘Thank you, Inspector Stone.’
She continued towards the kitchen.
‘Charlotte, so sorry, urgent call, can’t stop for coffee.’
‘Oh, okay,’ she said, putting down the mug.
‘But I’ve just had a lovely chat with your mum and you’re right, she does seem to be having a good day. I’ve got a feeling there’ll be plenty more of those to come.’
Charlotte gave her a quizzical smile.
‘Get on with your life and enjoy her for as long as you can.’
‘I will. I promise.’
Kim closed the front door behind her.
The case of Terence Birch had now well and truly been put to bed.
SEVENTY-NINE
Penn looked up as the door to the meeting room opened.
‘Thought you might need one of these,’ Stacey said, placing a cup of coffee on the table.
‘Thanks, Stace. I swear to God the authorities really didn’t want anyone finding out about this incident with the kid who was bullied.’
‘Medical records?’ Stacey asked.
He’d already considered that. ‘As with every other piece of paper sent over from Welton, there’s no order to the medical records, and even if there was, I’m looking for a kid injured during a three-to-four-year period in a boy’s prison.’
‘Didn’t he require hospitalisation?’
‘Not according to what’s in these boxes. Only seven inmates were referred for hospital treatment in the years our boys were there. A broken arm, a rib fracture, two viruses, a perforated eardrum, an appendectomy and an in-grown toenail.’
‘Are you joking?’ Stacey asked. ‘In more than three years?’
‘And not one of the reasons for hospital attendance was given as violence. The two broken bones were both supposedly accidental.’
‘No warning on the files of any of our six?’
‘Not for that. Plenty of notes for minor stuff, but there isn’t any mention of the big stuff.’
‘We’ve obviously got them all wrong. Proper little group of angels,’ Stacey offered, heading back towards the door.
‘Either that or someone has defied the court order and been pretty choosy with the documentation they’ve turned over to us.’
And, of course, proving that would be another matter entirely.
He sighed heavily, realising that he might well be looking for something that just wasn’t there.
There was no question in his mind that the final assault on the mystery boy had been covered up and removed from the records, if the incident had even been logged in the first place.
