Page 96 of Corpse Roads

“What?” Hunter frowns at me.

“Theo told me he got the team to collect it a few weeks ago. The boxes are in storage, waiting for us.”

He looks mildly stunned. It would be entertaining if we weren’t a man down and left to pick up the pieces he left behind.

“Why?” Hunter wonders aloud.

“Fuck knows what goes on in Theo’s mind. Come on.” I clap him on the shoulder. “Let’s lay it out and see what we’ve got.”

Waving off several offers of help, we retrieve the evidence boxes from the locked storeroom down the corridor and bring them back to the office. They fill almost half the table.

It must’ve taken Theo countless nights to organise all this paperwork, trawling through old police files and filing the important stuff. We didn’t even request this. He’s done it all himself. It’s further proof of how much he really cares.

“That her?” Hunter asks grimly.

I pick up a photograph and nod. The brown-haired, blue-eyed angel staring back at me doesn’t look like the woman I know. There’s a lightness to her, shining through a wide, toothy grin.

The person I know is hollow-eyed, empty at times, but a golden thread still runs through Harlow. Defiance steels her spine and sass rolls off her sharp tongue without her realising.

She’s changing, growing, becoming more comfortable with challenging us and questioning the world around her. Freedom has given Harlow her life back.

“Leticia Kensington,” I read, the name still sounding wrong. “This corresponds with the report from forensics. We pulled her school records too.”

“That place was a disgrace. How on earth was she allowed to walk home alone when Giana Kensington was running late?”

“You know how it is.” Swapping papers, I scan over an evidence log. “Underfunded state school, disillusioned staff. No one gives a fuck when the bell rings and they get to say goodbye to the little shits.”

Hunter shakes his head with a chuckle. “Not feeling paternal, Enz? I figured you’d want your own little shit one day.”

“We have a Leighton. That’s enough.”

“I say we put him up for adoption.”

Opening another ring binder, Hunter checks the details we’ve nailed down so far. Our list of information is sparse at best.

“Leticia’s been missing for thirteen years and was presumed dead after a year-long investigation turned up no leads.” He drops the file with a sigh. “Classic cold case. No evidence, no witnesses.”

“Another CCTV blind spot?”

“They lived in a shitty area. Rural, poverty-stricken. No infrastructure or spots for surveillance footage. Looks like she cut across a farmer’s field to get home.”

We pour more hot drinks, gulping them down in silence. Being surrounded by fragments of Harlow’s life is surreal. It feels wrong to have access to all this information while she sits at home, none the wiser.

“Hang on.” Hunter snatches up a printed report. “Harlow’s family sued the school and won fifty grand in damages.”

“Fifty grand?” I repeat.

“Negligence, open and shut case. The school was shut down by the council.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

Hunter nods. “Looks like Theo got a hit on the prison system. Harlow’s father was convicted for identity fraud. He went to prison and Giana got all the money.”

“Jesus fuck.”

“Funnily enough, she didn’t mention it.”

“Wait, you’ve spoken to Giana?” I snarl at him.

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