.

herself?

      ‘Kate, I don’t want to speak out of line here, but you’re going to need to practise that speech a few more times before the detectives turn up.’

      ‘I’m sorry?’

      ‘You sound like you’re giving a statement you don’t believe. You sound like you’re hiding something.’

      Kate’s eyes widened. ‘I have nothing to hide,’ she said with severe conviction.

      ‘What about Elly Caine?’

      ‘Elly Caine has no bearing on what has happened.’

      ‘If the police don’t dig her up then the press will. You know they’ll go over everything with a fine-tooth comb. They’ll want to tear this place apart.’

      ‘Oliver—’

      A knock on the door silenced Kate. The manager and head of officers looked at each other. They both recognized the heavy knock of an official. There was a detective behind the door. The nightmare was about to begin.

      ‘Come in,’ Kate managed to force out despite her rapidly drying throat.

      The door opened and a dishevelled-looking woman entered followed by what seemed to be a male model.

      ‘I’m DCI Darke and this is DC Fleming from South Yorkshire Police. Kate Moloney?’

      ‘That’s right. Please, come on in. Can I get you a drink of tea or something?’

      ‘Tea would be nice, thank you.’

      While Matilda and Rory took their seats, Kate got on the phone and ordered drinks from her secretary.

      ‘I’d just like to say,’ Kate began, fiddling with the items of stationery on her desk. ‘What happened here is completely out of the blue. We operate a zero tolerance policy, and my staff and myself will offer you our total cooperation.’

      ‘Thank you. That’s good to know,’ Matilda responded, slightly perplexed by Kate’s nervous demeanour. ‘I’m going to need to see the files on all the inmates.’

      ‘They are confidential.’

       So much for total cooperation.

      ‘Ms Moloney—’

      ‘Kate, please.’

      ‘Kate. This is a murder investigation and you have seven convicted murderers living on-site. I need to know who I’m dealing with before I interview them. Obviously, we will have our own files on the boys, but they’ll be coming from different police forces around the country and could take some time. Besides, we know all about confidentiality. My team is hand-picked and know how to deal with sensitive information.’

      ‘I understand all that … ’

      ‘I could obtain a warrant from the magistrate’s court, but I really don’t want to go down that route.’ Matilda added, her voice growing louder and sterner with every sentence.

      ‘Of course. I’ll get whatever you need,’ Kate relented with a painful smile.

      ‘I’ll need the files on your staff too.’

      ‘Now steady on—’ Oliver Byron chimed in.

      ‘And you are?’ Matilda asked, looking across at the grey-haired man with the shocked expression on his face.

      ‘Oliver Byron. I’m head of officers here. Why do you want to see the staff files?’

      ‘Mr Byron, my job is to interview everyone involved, and eliminate where possible. My team will be interviewing everybody on-site. That includes all staff, all officers, yourself, and even Ms Moloney.’

      Kate stood up. ‘Oliver, it’s fine. DCI Darke, I’m sorry. As I’m sure you can guess, emotions are running high at present. Don’t worry, we will all cooperate with your investigations.’

      ‘I appreciate that. I’ll need our forensics team to go through the CCTV footage from all the cameras throughout the building.’

      Matilda noticed Kate and Oliver exchange glances briefly. For a single moment, they looked worried.

      ‘Is that a problem?’

      ‘No.’ Kate smiled nervously. ‘Not a problem at all.’

      ‘Thank you. I’ll need a room for my officers to work in while we’re here. Would that be possible?’

      ‘That’s not a problem. We have a boardroom we use for staff meetings. Oliver, can you make sure it’s suitable for DCI Darke and her team?’

      ‘Of course,’ he said reluctantly.

      ‘Thank you. Now, what can you tell me about Ryan Asher?’ Matilda leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. She was going to be here for a while so she may as well make herself comfortable.

      ‘There’s not much I can tell you. He only arrived on Sunday night. I met with him on Monday morning. Told him about the place, what would be expected of him; showed him around and that was it.’

      ‘How did he seem?’

      ‘Like all the other boys who arrive here, he was nervous. He didn’t speak much, but he looked like he was paying attention.’

      ‘You know of his crime?’

      ‘Of course. I was sent his file before he arrived.’

      ‘What did you think of him?’

      ‘From my point of view he was another inmate. His crime has nothing to do with me. Like all the boys.’

      ‘You could get past what he had been convicted of?’

      ‘Yes. I look at it this way: without these boys being here I would be out of a job. They’re here, so am I. It’s that simple.’

      A tiny knock and the door opened to reveal an elderly woman struggling under the weight of a tea tray. Rory jumped up to take it from her. She thanked him and left, closing the door behind her.

      ‘Shall I be mother?’ Rory asked.

      Matilda tried to hide her smile. Kate’s face remained solid stone.

      ‘Did he speak to any of the other boys while he was here?’

      ‘Yes. I believe he spoke to all of them at some point.’

      ‘Any in particular?’

      ‘I saw him deep in conversation with Lee Marriott in the dining room last night.’

      ‘Lee?’

      ‘Yes. He was—’

      ‘I know of Lee Marriott, thank you.’ Matilda said, making a note of his name.

      ‘DCI Darke, the boys are currently all locked in the dining room. How long will it be before they’re allowed out?’

      ‘Until we’ve interviewed and been able to eliminate them from our enquiries. Of course the recreation room is going to be out of bounds for the foreseeable future.’

      ‘Of course.’

      ‘Is there anything you think we should know about any of the boys or the staff before we get started?’

      Silence. There was a look on Kate’s face that Matilda couldn’t quite make out. An expression flitted across it and disappeared just as quickly. Her stoical persona, for a split second, had dropped. Why? Had Matilda’s question conjured up something she wanted to keep private? Matilda decided not to push it – not yet. Whatever secrets were buried within these thick stone walls, Matilda would uncover.

       MARK PARKER

       Worthing. October 2014