Joseph pulled up his hood and started to walk away. ‘No one, son. I was never here, and I never saw you or your aerosol cans. Just lock your doors at night. It would be a real sin to waste all that talent.’ He glanced over his shoulder and called back. ‘And I like your tag. Fan of Mondrian’s “Wall Works”, are you?’

Petey was adjusting his stilts, but he stopped and looked incredulously at Joseph. ‘Most people think I can’t even spell my own name. I dunno who you are, man, but respect! You’re the first one to make the connection.’

‘Your teacher reckons you’re a smart kid with a passion for Bauhaus. You could go far, Petey. Do yourself a favour and use your new wages to buy some art books and maybe a proper canvas.’

As he slipped back into the shadows, he heard the familiar rattling sound, and he smiled to himself.

Back at the station, Joseph found the office empty, but as he switched on his computer, his mobile rang.

‘Joseph? DI Galena. Look, if you were planning on coming back to the hospital, I’ll be getting away shortly.’

‘How’s the kid?’

‘Not good. He had some sort of fit. They’ve got him on a respirator.’ She paused. ‘It wasn’t nice to watch, Joseph, I can tell you.’

He thought about what she must have gone through with her own daughter, and knew that it could not have been easy for her. ‘No, I’m sure it wasn’t, ma’am. So, are you going home?’

‘Shortly. As I’m here, I’ll call in on Hannah for a few minutes, then I’ll go grab some sleep. I suggest you do the same.’

‘I’ve one more thing to do. Petey gave me a lead on the Griffyx. I’ll check it out, then go back to my digs for a few hours kip.’

‘I’ll be calling a meeting for the whole team at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Bring whatever it is that you come up with, and I’ll see you then. Goodnight, Sergeant, and don’t work too late. Remember what you told me; we need to stay sharp.’

‘Roger. Night, ma’am.’ Joseph closed his phone and turned to the computer. Now, what was it? Lyco’s blog and follow the link to the game?

He tapped the name into the search engine, yawned, and went to the coffee machine.

On his return he found 1,890 results, and decided that he should have been a little more thorough in his interrogation of young Petey. He hadn’t even clarified the spelling. With a sinking feeling, he sipped the hot coffee and tried again.

After fifteen minutes searching, he found what he was looking for. And quickly came to the conclusion that the link had led him to just the kind of game site that parental control locks had been invented for.