‘And there are still too many youths loitering on the common in the evenings,’ an old woman croaked, her arm raised beside her head.
‘We spoke about this at a previous meeting, Mrs Faversham,’ a female
police officer with ringlet-sprung hair said. ‘They aren’t engaging in any anti-social behaviour. They are just playing football after school.’
Pip was sitting on a bright yellow plastic chair in an audience of just twelve people. The library was dark and stuffy and the air filled her nostrils with that wonderful cosmic smell of old books and the fusty smell of old people.
The meeting was slow and dreary, but Pip was alert and sharp-eyed.
Daniel da Silva was one of the three officers taking the meeting. He was taller than she’d expected, standing there in his black uniform. His hair was light brown and wavy, styled back from his forehead. He was clean-shaven, with a narrow upturned nose and wide rounded lips. Pip tried to not watch him for long stretches of time, in case he noticed.
There was another familiar face here too, sitting just three seats down from Pip. He stood up suddenly, flashing his open palm at the officers.
‘Stanley Forbes, Kilton Mail ,’ he said. ‘Several of my readers have complained that people are still driving too fast down the high street. How
do you intend to tackle this issue?’
Daniel stepped forward now, nodding for Stanley to retake his seat.
‘Thanks, Stan,’ he said. ‘The street already has several traffic-calming measures. We have discussed performing more speed checks and, if it’s a concern, I am happy to reopen that conversation with my superiors.’
Mrs Faversham had two more complaints to drawl through and then the meeting was finally over.
‘If you have any other policing concerns,’ the third officer said, noticeably avoiding eye contact with old Mrs Faversham, ‘please fill out one
of the questionnaires behind you,’ she gestured. ‘And if you’d prefer to talk to any of us in private, we will be sticking around for the next ten minutes.’
Pip held back for a while, not wanting to appear too eager. She waited as Daniel finished talking to one of the library volunteers and then she pushed up from her chair and approached him.
‘Hi,’ she said.
‘Hello,’ he smiled, ‘you seem a few decades too young for a meeting like this.’
She shrugged. ‘I’m interested in law and crime.’
‘Nothing too interesting in Kilton,’ he said, ‘just loitering kids and slightly fast cars.’
Oh, if only.
‘So you’ve never made an arrest over suspicious salmon handling?’ she said, laughing nervously.
Daniel stared blankly at her.
‘Oh, it’s . . . that’s an actual British law.’ She felt her cheeks redden.
Why didn’t she just play with her hair or fiddle like normal people do when nervous? ‘The Salmon Act of 1986 made it illegal to . . . uh, never mind.’
She shook her head. ‘I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask you.’ ‘Shoot,’ he said, ‘as long as it’s not about salmon.’
‘It’s not.’ She coughed lightly into her fist and looked up. ‘Do you remember reports being made, about five or six years ago, of drug use and drinks being spiked at house parties thrown by Kilton Grammar students?’
He tensed his chin and his mouth sank into a thoughtful frown.
‘No,’ he said, ‘I don’t remember that. Are you wanting to report a crime?’ She shook her head. ‘No. Do you know Max Hastings?’ she said.
Daniel shrugged. ‘I know the Hastings family a bit. They were my very first call-out alone after I finished training.’
‘For what?’
‘Oh, nothing big. Their son had crashed his car into a tree in front of the house. Needed to file a police report for the insurance. Why?’
‘No reason,’ she said faux-nonchalantly. She could see Daniel’s feet starting to turn away from her. ‘Just one more thing I’m interested to know.’
‘Yep?’
‘You were one of the first responding officers when Andie Bell was reported missing. You conducted the primary search of the Bell residence.’
Daniel nodded, lines tightening around his eyes.
‘Was that not some sort of conflict of interest, seeing as you were so close to her father?’
‘No,’ he said, ‘it wasn’t. I’m a professional when I have this uniform on.
And I have to say, I don’t really like where these questions are going. Excuse me.’ He shuffled a few inches away.
Just then, a woman appeared behind Daniel and stepped in beside him and Pip. She had long fair hair and a freckled nose, and a giant belly pushing out the front of her dress. She must have been at least seven months pregnant.
‘Well, hi,’ she said in a forced pleasant tone to Pip. ‘I’m Dan’s wife.
How entirely unusual for me to catch him talking to a young girl. Must say you aren’t his usual type.’
‘Kim,’ Daniel said, placing his arm on her back, ‘come on.’ ‘Who is she?’
‘Just some kid who came to the meeting. I don’t know.’ He led his wife away to the other side of the room.
At the library’s exit Pip took one more look over her shoulder. Daniel stood with his wife, talking to Mrs Faversham, deliberately not looking over at her. Pip pushed the door and went outside, huddling further into her khaki coat as the cold air enclosed her. Ravi was waiting for her just up the road, opposite the cafe.
‘You were right not to come in,’ she said when she arrived at his side. ‘He was pretty hostile to just me. And Stanley Forbes was there too.’
‘Lovely guy,’ Ravi said sarcastically, dipping his hands in his pockets to hide them from the bitter wind. ‘So you didn’t learn anything?’
‘Oh, I didn’t say that,’ Pip said, stepping in closer to him to shield herself from the wind. ‘He let one thing slip; don’t even know if he realized it.’
‘Stop pausing for dramatic effect.’
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘He said he knew the Hastings, that he was the one who filed the police report when Max crashed his car into the tree by their house.’
‘Oh,’ Ravi’s lips opened around the sound. ‘So he . . . maybe he could have known about the hit-and-run?’
‘Maybe he could.’
Pip’s hands were so cold now that they started to curl into claws. She was about to suggest going back to hers when Ravi stiffened, his eyes fixed
on a point behind her. She turned.
Daniel da Silva and Stanley Forbes had just left the library, the door banging behind them. They were deep in hushed conversation, Daniel explaining something with gestured hands. Stanley’s head did a half-owl spin, checking around them and that’s when he spotted Pip and Ravi.
Stanley’s eyes cooled, and his gaze was a cold blast in the wind as it flicked between the two of them. Daniel looked over and stared, but his eyes were just on Pip, sharp and blistering.
Ravi took her hand. ‘Let’s go,’ he said.
