Sam radioed for backup. DI Davies waded in to break the women up, barging his way into their circle, his arms over his face and head for protection. He screamed that he was the police, over and over again, but in their blood frenzy they didn’t hear–or they chose not to. Some started to back off but a hardened group of stragglers continued to kick Kate Milne. A couple of women punched DI Davies in the ribs as he passed and it wasn’t a mistake. There was no need to show his badge to the crowd–they knew who he was. He’d arrested most of their husbands, and one or two of the women as well had been picked up for soliciting. The inspector thought it was a mercy Kate Milne was a fat cow, otherwise her internal organs would have been damaged from the force of the women’s kicks. As it was, he gripped her arm and pulled her towards the car. She’d lost a shoe, her coat was torn and her hair was bedraggled. The mob parted for him, their lust temporarily sated, but Kate Milne was no fool. She knew this was only the start. And if it had been another child getting ready to sit in the back of the squad car, she would have done exactly the same thing. Blame the parents: everyone does.

She was thrown in the back of the squad car, where she landed heavily. Sam sat behind PC Williams and Kevin was in the middle, dragged back from his pathetic attempt at escape. He slumped against his mother, both crying great, fat, heaving sobs. She was stroking his hair and telling him that she loved him. Kate wasn’t much of a mother, but she was the only one he had, and she could go through the motions when she needed to. They had tried to cover him with a blanket, tried to keep his identity a secret, but they had failed. From the moment he left his mother’s house, Kevin Milne was lost to the world, and Child X was born.

The rush-hour traffic was easing as they sped back to police headquarters, the sirens now blaring. The cat was out of the bag, and the papers would be laying siege to police headquarters before the morning was over. Fog still smothered Edmonton Green and the blue lights of the police car looked like a laser show. The newly planted trees along the roadside were doing poorly, and the occupants inside the squad car weren’t doing much better. PC Williams screeched to a halt outside HQ. Renee Smith and her mother were already inside, but a couple of photographers who were quick off the mark were snapping furiously. Sam threw the blanket over the boy’s head as they bundled him up the steps and through the doors.