Torn To Shreds (DI Olivia Austin Book 38): A fast-paced crime thriller by Nic Roberts

Author:Nic Roberts [Roberts, Nic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-18T00:00:00+00:00

Bob Bailey hadn’t expected to see the detectives again so soon and was immediately unnerved by the steely looks on their faces.

“Is this about the journalist?” he asked impatiently, clearly eager to get back to work.

“No, Mr Bailey,” Liv snapped back, having no time for any bullshit, “this is about one of your staff members sexually abusing one of the children in your care.”

Mr Bailey went completely white and looked like he was going to faint. “No, you’ve got to be mistaken—”

“We’ve spoken to one of the girls who was regularly coerced into sexual activities,” Archie declared, his fingers curled into fists. “This had been going on for some time, and she went along with it apparently to spare some of the younger children experiencing similar abuse.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, walking up and down in the room, his whole world vanishing. “Which staff member was responsible?”

“Linelle Cobble,” Liv responded, almost wishing she had some of the photographs on her to hammer the point home.

“And which girl has made the allegation?” he asked with strangled breath.

“We’re not at liberty to discuss that,” Liv replied, feeling that Melanie needed safeguarding more than ever considering how the system had let her down.

“But we’re going to need to speak with all members of your staff and definitely some of the children to see if there have been any other examples of abuse.”

“I swear to you…” he stammered, the energy pouring out of him. “I didn’t know anything about this. I’m a dad myself. If I’d known what she was doing under my own watch…”

Liv wasn’t sure if she was ready to believe him just yet.

“Why don’t you tell us a bit more about Linelle Cobble?” she suggested, hoping they could at least fill in the blanks.

“She’s been working with us for five years now,” Mr Bailey explained, clearly trying to be helpful as compensation for not realizing what had been occurring right under his nose. “Before this, she was a social care worker.”

“What was she like with people? Staff and kids?” Liv asked, an involuntary shudder going through her at that last bit.

“With the staff, she was fairly courteous,” the manager responded, drawing back on half a decade of mostly forgotten memories. “She wasn’t the kind of person who’d go down the pub for a pint at the end of the day, but she could be counted on to do a good job. And the kids seemed to respect her… or at least, she was able to get them to do what she wanted.” He closed his eyes at such a poor choice of words.

“Was she close with anyone in the home?” Liv asked, thinking of possible co-conspirators.

“No one that I can think of. She pretty much kept to herself,” he replied, angry with himself for not seeing the signs. “I swear to you both, I had no idea that she was doing any of this. If I had, I would have put a stop to it.”

She looked him up and down for any hint of bluff.

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