A Room Full of Killers by Michael Wood (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

give this entire building a going over – see if Jacob Brown is still on the premises. Kate, get all the other guards to join the search too.’

‘What about the other inmates?’

‘Keep them locked in their rooms. Nobody is to unlock those doors without my say-so.’

Everyone left to conduct their duties. Matilda went over to a window and looked out. Thankfully, the heavy rain had washed the press away. There were no cars, news van or waiting journalists. The two uniformed officers were standing at the gates with their torches aloft. She didn’t blame them for not noticing the escape. She fished out her phone and searched for a number. It was several rings before it was answered by a groggy greeting.

‘Ma’am, it’s DCI Darke. We have a situation at Starling House,’ Matilda said to ACC Valerie Masterson.

FORTY-THREE

It took over an hour for every single room, cupboard, nook and cranny in Starling House to be searched. There was no sign of Jacob Brown anywhere. The rain had stopped, and Matilda had called for a fire engine to pump out the water on Limb Lane so a search team could get through and begin a search of the grounds and surrounding fields at first light.

There was nothing the ACC could do. She told Matilda to keep her informed, and as soon as she was able, she wanted a meeting to be told ‘what the fuck was going on at that bastard place’ as she so beautifully put it.

Matilda had spoken separately with Rebecca Childs and Peter McFly. Their stories were identical. Kate had left them in the staffroom just before half-past nine last night. It was quiet from then until an alarm sounded over four hours later.

‘I don’t understand this,’ Kate said for the hundredth time. ‘I don’t understand this at all. How can an inmate break out of his room and escape? It’s not possible.’

Kate and Matilda were sitting in Kate’s office. They were trapped by the localized flooding on Limb Lane. There was nothing they could do. Although Matilda felt a degree of sympathy towards Kate, she was beginning to tire with regards to how blind she was towards her own staff.

‘Kate, I think it’s time you realized that one of your staff is a killer and, for reasons unknown, helped Jacob Brown to escape.’

Kate shook her head. ‘No. I’m sorry, no, that’s not … no.’

‘What do you know of your staff?’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, fiddling with the collar on her shirt.

‘We’ve searched their rooms as well, you know. Did you know Richard Grover has a stack of pornography magazines under his bed? Some of them you can’t even buy in this country due to their content.’

The colour drained from Kate’s face. ‘Oh God. It’s not kids, is it?’

‘Let’s just say if they’re not kids they’re extremely close to the legal age limit.’

‘But that has no bearing on this case. Ryan Asher wasn’t interfered with in that way, was he?’

‘My God, you’re still defending your staff,’ Matilda yelled. ‘Does one of them need to walk in here carrying a bloody knife and dragging a corpse behind them before you realize they’re not saints?’

With shaking hands, Kate swept away a tear before it had time to fall down her face. ‘I know they’re not saints,’ she said quietly. ‘I also know they’re not qualified. Not a single bloody one of them. Why would anyone want to work here? These inmates, these boys, these murdering scum,’ she spat out her words. ‘Nobody wants to be surrounded by the most evil children in Britain. I have to hire anyone who applies for the job whether they’re capable or not. I have no choice.’ Kate’s entire body was shaking with anger. ‘For all I know, any one of them could be a killer or a rapist or part of a paedophile ring. You want to arrest them, go ahead. Take them all. Close us down. I don’t fucking care anymore.’ Kate stormed out of the office and slammed the door firmly behind her leaving Matilda sitting in silence.

She was more shocked by the outburst than the language Kate used. She wasn’t surprised Kate was beginning to unravel; it had been a long time coming by the look of it.

By the time it was light, a fire engine was parked at the gates of Starling House, draining away the water to allow access. It would be a long process. The field opposite was saturated and the water had to go somewhere. The water seeping through the cracks in the drystone wall onto the road was slowing down, but not by much.

Matilda looked out of the window watching the scene, wondering how far Jacob Brown had got during the storm overnight. He could be anywhere by now.

‘I’ve got some news but you’re not going to like it,’ Rory said as he entered Kate’s office.

‘It’s been so long since I’ve had some good news, Rory, that I don’t think it exists anymore. Let’s have it.’

‘I’ve just got off the phone with Sian. By the way, her house flooded last night. She’s fuming.’

‘Oh God. I’ll give her a call. There’s no reason for her to be at work.’

‘She said she’d rather be here than at home. Her husband’s dealing with it all, apparently. Anyway, Sian’s been doing some digging into the staff here, and the tutor, Fred Percival, has a record.’

‘Of course he has,’ Matilda said, not surprised anymore by anything that happened in Starling House. ‘What’s he done?’

‘In 1999 he was questioned for sexually assaulting a boy in Leicester. It went to trial and he was found not guilty. In 2002 he was found guilty of sex with a minor and sentenced to two years. He was out in nine months. In 2006 he was questioned for having sex with a boy under the age of sixteen. It didn’t get to court.’

‘Didn’t he say he was married with kids though?’

‘Yes, he did. And he was. At the time. What he didn’t tell us