Like This, for Ever

it was. Locked up, in darkness, people near by said it had been empty for months.’
    ‘I went to their house a few days later,’ said Stenning. ‘I remember it because it’s right next to where you live, Lacey. Mr Roberts told me they hadn’t been near the boat for months. Mind you, the kid said the same thing.’
    ‘He was protecting his father,’ said Lacey. ‘He also talked about bloodstained sheets from the boat. Blood-clotting drugs in the bathroom. And the glove.’
    She nodded at the small black glove that was now in an evidence bag in the middle of the desk. ‘Assuming it’s the same one – Barney said it wasn’t his,’ she reminded them. ‘Why would Stewart have a child’s glove that isn’t his son’s?’
    ‘Ah shit, I remember now, Sarge,’ said Stenning. ‘The kid mentioned that the boat was reported wet. By the locksmith, I think he said. The boat was damp inside and the boy’s dad had to take the day off to go and dry it out. Roberts himself neglected to mention that. Claimed he’d forgotten until his son reminded him.’
    ‘We need to bring him in,’ said Anderson. ‘And get a warrant to search his house and the boat. OK, thanks, Lacey.’
    ‘Sarge, you need to find Barney, too. I dread to think what’s going through his head right now. He’s in no state to be out on his own.’
    ‘We’ll get right on to it. Christ, the last thing we need right now is another missing kid.’ Anderson stood up, switched off the recording equipment and stretched to ease the muscles in his back.
    ‘What happens now?’ asked Lacey. ‘Can I leave?’
    Anderson nodded down at her. ‘Course you can. But stay close to a phone and answer it immediately if we call. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to stay in the area.’
    ‘Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help?’
    Anderson opened the door and allowed Lacey to precede him out. Stenning brought up the rear.
    ‘If I were you, love,’ he said, as the door slammed shut behind the three of them, ‘I’d go and find DI Joesbury. I’d say that’s where you can be most use right now.’

60
    THE FLAT ON the top floor of the white stucco house in Pimlico was empty. Lacey was sure of it. She’d sat in her car looking up, waiting for lights to come on. After a while, she’d walked round to the rear of the properties. Nothing. Joesbury wasn’t home.
    There were police cars outside the Robertses’ house when she got back. The front door was open and a uniformed constable was standing guard. DS Anderson had wasted no time. There was no sign of Tulloch’s Mercedes, which was something to be thankful for. Lacey crossed the street, pulling her warrant card from her pocket. She was about to show it to the constable on duty when a familiar figure appeared in the hallway.
    ‘Pete, it’s me,’ she called.
    Stenning saw her and came outside. ‘Stewart Roberts is at Lewisham,’ he said in a low voice, once they reached the foot of the steps. ‘The DI’s talking to him, but he’s freaking out about his kid. Refusing to talk until we find him.’ Stenning kept glancing over her head, as though he was uncomfortable talking to her.
    ‘You haven’t found Barney then?’
    Stenning shook his head. ‘We’ve put a bulletin out, but we’re stretched pretty thin. Everyone we’ve got available is looking for Huck.’
    ‘Please let me help,’ said Lacey. ‘I can phone round his friends’ houses. He has to have gone somewhere.’ As she waited for Stenning to think about it, she realized the last thing she wanted was to get dragged into the search for Barney.
    Talk about being torn in two. All she wanted to do was find Joesbury and help him look for his son. Yet Barney, with no mother and a father in police custody, had no one to look out for him. And it was her fault he’d run off.
    ‘We’ve got it covered,’ Stenning replied after a moment. ‘Better you keep out of it all.’
    ‘Have you found anything in the house?’
    Stenning glanced behind, then lowered his voice even further. ‘You didn’t hear this from me,’ he said, ‘but we’ve got an expert taking his computer apart. Roberts had a Facebook account, but he was mainly keeping an eye on what his son was doing. Of more interest are numerous internet searches about vampires and blood-drinking. And some very dodgy-looking drugs in his bathroom cabinet. I imagine they’re the ones the kid told you about.’
    ‘So if the post-mortems of the murder victims show traces of