A loud sigh escaped Sam’s lips. The first stage was over, and the next would be played out under the glare of the world’s media. But they had them–they had the little bastards.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sam joined the crowd behind the two-way mirror to watch the interview. She sucked in her breath as she jostled for a position where she could both see and hear. A quick glance to her left and right showed her fellow officers staring without blinking. The nation was horrified by children killing children–in this job, they got a front-row seat for the action and she hoped they could make sense of it. The wobbly brown Formica table held a box of Kleenex, a tape recorder and an untouched plastic beaker of Kia-Ora from the police canteen. The interview room was hot and stuffy. DI Davies had taken his jacket off and his tie was at half-mast.

Kevin Milne and his mother sat at the opposite side of the table to the inspector, and Kevin lay with his head in his mother’s lap, whimpering and trembling. ‘But I didn’t do it, Mum.’ Kate patted his back. ‘Mum, tell them I didn’t do nothing. What will they do to me? Will they hurt me? Will I get taken somewhere? Where will I get taken?’ Rivers of snot, mingled with tears, ran down his face. Kate continued to stroke his back in a way she hadn’t done since he was a baby.

‘Everything will be all right.’ She picked up a tissue and wiped his face. ‘I’ll always love you, Kevin. You’re a good boy. I know you didn’t do nothing.’ Kate Milne’s face had received some rudimentary help, a plaster covering the cut below her eye. In different circumstances she would have received medical treatment before this interview commenced.

‘He’s showing no remorse,’ said Gerry Cornwell, looking at Kevin’s tears, tapping the glass lightly. ‘He’s only sorry for himself…sorry he’s been caught.’

‘What about Kate?’ Sam asked. She half turned to stare into his face. ‘Will she stand by him when he admits he killed Matthew?’ The officers in the viewing room had been silent, but they now held their breaths, anxious to know Gerry’s opinion, asking themselves what they would do if their boy was a killer.

‘The near-lynching at the flats this morning proved one thing to Kate. She’s got no one but Kevin and her other children. No one will stand by her: they’re all she’s got left. She might kick in now with some motherly support–it might do her a bit of good if she feels she has to save face.’