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‘I thought you might get to me at some stage,’ he said, closing the door behind them. ‘I watch the local news.’
‘You recognised the names of the recent victims?’ Kim asked, noting a male and female set of everything she passed – wellington boots, jackets, scarves – and yet the house sounded deathly quiet beyond them. There was no distant hum of activity.
‘I hope we’re not disturbing you or your wife from anything.’
‘You’d be hard pushed to disturb Lizzie – she’s been dead for three months.’
‘Sorry for your loss,’ Bryant offered automatically.
And yet she was still everywhere, Kim thought, now seeing sadness in the pairs of items around the house.
‘Did you consider coming to see us and mentioning you’d known them both when you recognised their names?’ Kim asked as she took a seat on a well-worn sofa.
‘And tell you what? That I knew both boys fifteen years ago? That would hardly help you now.’
‘We had a visit from Ryan West, who also remembered them and was able to give us the link back to Welton.’
Baldwin sniffed. ‘Not sure what he can tell you. He barely knew them.’
Ryan had admitted he hadn’t been there very long.
‘We understand that you were the only staff member to continue at Welton after Acer Security took over the contract.’
‘Only because they couldn’t get rid of me. I was pretty smug back then, but in hindsight, I wish they had thrown me out with the rest.’
‘Why’s that?’ Kim asked.
‘Bloody soulless place. You start off with the best intentions, you really see yourself making a difference, but you never do. You try and take your victories where you can find them, so you don’t give up. Your ambitions change from helping a kid to turn his life around to just being grateful he doesn’t stab you. Your hope dies and your passion fades.’
‘When did your views change?’ Kim asked.
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. At first the job was as advertised. I was supervising young offenders on court orders and community sentences, and supporting them after release, trying to get them into education, work or training. But gradually it was all about spending time with them in secure institutions, offering one-to-one support, managing day-to-day activities and helping them build routines through education and social interactions. At first you’d see a kid through from beginning to end, but then they had some of us doing all the prison work and others doing the aftercare support. There was no way to build a bond before handing them over to the next person, and the kids knew that. Made them feel like they were in a system so they didn’t give a shit.’
‘There’s no hope then?’ Kim asked, trying to keep the sharp edges out of her tone. She understood Welton was for young offenders, but they were still only kids. There had to be hope.
‘How many cases have you worked in your career so far?’
Kim shook her head, indicating that she had no idea.
‘Hundreds?’
‘Definitely.’
‘Charge rate percentage mid-eighties?’ he asked.
‘A little higher.’
‘Conviction rate low eighties?’
‘Thereabouts.’
‘Okay, now consider it was zero. How long do you think your enthusiasm would last if you had a success rate of exactly zero?’
‘You don’t think you had any successes?’ Kim asked doubtfully. His career had spanned more than thirty years.
‘No. People need to want to be helped, and if that means breaking habits or putting in effort to change, then forget it.’ His right hand clenched into a fist. ‘I gave it my best years. Taking them on, trying to improve their lives. Every ounce of energy I had, I put into those kids. Every week of every year, and some weekends I was too exhausted to haul myself out of bed. Physically and mentally. Even when I wasn’t at work, I was thinking about some of them, thinking of ways to help them turn their lives around. And all the time Lizzie supported me, comforted me and let me dedicate myself to the job.’
Kim knew what was coming. She could do the sums in her head and could see the root of the bitterness.
