‘Was she… I mean…?’
‘There was no sexual assault,’ Kim assured him.
Tears were forming in his eyes as everything started to register, but she had to press on.
‘How about work – any issues there?’
‘She never talked about work at home. She preferred to keep it separate. She saw a lot of bad things as a social worker, and she never brought it back here.’
Another warning bell sounded in her head. Not every family welcomed the intervention of social services.
At that second, Ava came running into the room and launched herself into her father’s arms. He took her onto his lap and held her close. ‘I want Mummy to come home now,’ she said between sobs.
Bryant followed with an apologetic smile. Kim nodded to indicate it was okay and that they were almost finished anyway.
‘Me too, sweetheart,’ Dan said, pulling Ava closer, as though the circle of his arms could protect her from the pain.
‘Just one last thing and we’ll give you some space,’ Kim said. ‘Is there anyone from your family we can call?’
He shook his head.
‘Ashley’s?’
‘She only has a brother. They’re not close.’
Kim saw his body stiffen at the mention of the brother.
Ava felt it too as she paused crying to look up at him.
He regained his composure. ‘I’ll let him know, but he won’t be interested. Leave that with me.’
‘Let me have his details in case we need to speak to him.’
Bryant took out his notebook and took the full name and address.
‘Okay,’ Kim said, standing. ‘Again, we’re sorry for your loss and we’ll be in touch soon.’
She indicated for him to stay where he was. They’d see themselves out. And there was time enough for her to talk about identifying the body.
* * *
‘Did you get to finish your picture?’ Kim asked Bryant, once they were outside.
‘Not really, but I did get to find out everything I needed to know about why Stitch is so powerful. How about you?’
‘I found out that there are a couple of netball players she didn’t like and she was a social worker, and there’s a brother that she didn’t get along with.’
‘Well, that’s something,’ he said as they got in the car.
Kim was still thinking about Dan’s manner when talking about the brother.
His body had tensed, and there’d been anger in his eyes… but there’d been something else when he’d pulled his daughter closer.
She was pretty sure that what she’d seen was fear.
Seven
Stacey couldn’t help thinking about the little girl who would never see her mother again. She’d noticed that happening a lot in recent months. Her heart went out to every family member suffering loss in all their major cases, but her emotions fixed on the children.
