02 The Denes Park Killings by C. J. Grayson

Author:C. J. Grayson [Grayson, C. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, Thrillers, Crime
ISBN: 9781835260098
Google: jbUF0AEACAAJ
Publisher: Joffe Books Limited
Published: 2023-06-25T23:00:00+00:00

42

Friday, early afternoon

Darlington

The six children sat on the floor near the bay window of the huge bedroom. Melissa was next to Eddy, shaking, her face tucked into the middle of her bony knees, not quite believing that the other three had been there for fifty-nine days. Neither Melissa, Damien, nor Eddy had slept well last night, for obvious reasons.

‘They haven’t let you out, not once?’ Damien asked Joseph, who was occupied with building a ramp for the toy cars on the floor in front of him.

Joseph shook his head but showed no sadness. ‘Only to go to the toilet and to brush our teeth.’

‘Your parents must think . . .’ He trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud.

‘That we’re dead?’ He looked away from Damien, tilted his head back, and observed the all-too-familiar white ceiling above them. His face was emotionless, as if he’d been in the room for so long, he’d accepted their situation.

‘Have you tried to escape?’ Eddy asked.

‘Twice. I won’t try it again.’

‘Why? What happened?’

‘Once, when the door opened at dinner time, which is half twelve every day, without fail, I waited next to it. Tess and John had agreed to sit on the floor against this wall and I packed my bed with their pillows, making it look like I was sleeping. When the man came in with a tray of food, I snuck out onto the landing. I got five steps, then an alarm went off. A loud siren. I panicked and, suddenly, the man who’d come in with the food was behind me. He was so angry and he pulled me back into the room. I saw a camera outside the door. That must have tripped the alarm.’

‘When was the other time?’ Damien asked. ‘You said twice.’

‘I climbed out of the window,’ he explained. Damien, Melissa, and Eddy tilted their gazes at the window. It was square, with a lock mechanism at the bottom of it. The window opened from the top, with hinges that allowed it to swivel inwards.

‘What happened?’

‘We tied the bedsheets together so I could climb down. It’s pretty high. Before my feet touched the floor outside, another loud alarm went off. The same sound as when I tried it the first time. I dropped to the floor and ran, but I’d hurt my ankle when I landed, so I didn’t get far. Only to the driveway. I shouted but no one heard me.’

Melissa started to cry again. Eddy stared at the floor vacantly. Damien absorbed this information but tried his best to think of something, as he, too, glanced away from Joseph.

‘Has anyone else been in this room other than you three?’ Damien asked. ‘Any other kids, I mean?’

‘Yes.’

‘Where . . . where did the others go?’

Joseph shrugged. ‘We don’t know. The men sometimes come in and choose one of us. Sometimes two. We—’ he motioned to himself, John, and Tess with his hand — ‘all arrived at the same time. We haven’t gone anywhere yet. As far as I know, we’re safe in this room.

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