Chapter 74

‘Back up there, Stone,' Woody said, beckoning for her to sit down. Following Stacey's phone call, they'd taken one detour and then headed back to the station.

Oh, she really wished he'd caught everything she'd said the first time. She had a lot to do. Even so, she took a seat. When he rested his chin on his laced fingers like that, she knew she wasn't going anywhere.

‘You're telling me that during your investigation, you've uncovered that the daughter of your first victim, who was initially a suspect, is now not her daughter and also not a suspect. In addition, her identity was stolen from the victim's real daughter, who is alive and well and currently staying at a local hotel. As if that's not enough, you now think that daughter one was abducted, and you have both daughter one and her real family downstairs.'

She nodded. Looked like he had got it after all. Although they hadn't really uncovered it. Much as it narked her, it was Frost's article that had hit the ignition switch on this one.

‘You do realise that such a delicate situation needs to be handled with a great deal of care.'

‘Of course.'

‘If handled incorrectly this could cause a lot of damage.'

‘I understand, sir,' she said, trying not to look at her watch.

‘We need safeguards in place for both parties. Before this goes any further, we need DNA confirmation and counselling support available. We can't just throw them together and hope for the best.'

‘Of course not.'

As if she'd reunite the parties if she wasn't sure.

‘Can you imagine the damage we could do if this was some type of false alarm?' he asked.

‘Absolutely, sir,' she agreed, knowing it was the quickest way to get her ass off this chair and back downstairs.

‘Unbelievable,' he said, shaking his head.

‘Yes, sir,' she said, standing.

‘And I assume you're all sorted for the talent show?'

‘Of course. You're not going to believe what we have to offer.'

‘You don't have anything, do you?' he asked.

It wasn't often she'd lied to Woody and got away with it.

‘Let's just say we're a work in progress.'

‘And the investigation. Anything new since last night's update?'

Kim thought of her day so far. Where to begin? If only she had the time and they weren't trying to ensure their killer didn't strike again. She prayed that no more families were going to be destroyed.

‘I feel we're getting close, sir. Now may I…?'

‘Yes, go,' he said, waving her out. ‘But remember what I said. Care and caution all the way.'

‘Of course, sir, care and caution,' she repeated before heading out of the room.