CHERUB: Brigands M.C. - Robert Muchamore Page 0,13
above the sinks before starting to wash his hands.
‘Did I need that,’ the man said, as he gave Dante a relieved smile. ‘Better out than in, eh?’
Dante didn’t respond. His eyes were fixed on his hands, but his mind was back in the boxing ring from the night before. He thought about the difference between the world of his mum, where you said please and thank you and washed your hands and the world of his dad where fighting, swearing, selling drugs and farting out loud were perfectly acceptable.
‘Name’s Ross Johnson,’ the big man continued, despite the fact that Dante had ignored his first remark. ‘I’ve come down from London. I’m a police inspector, but I’m also a psychologist. I specialise in interviewing and supporting child witnesses. You must be Dante Scott.’
The words drifted over Dante as he scrubbed under his nails and between his fingers, struggling to wipe off all the soap. All Dante’s life his dad had been the cool one and his mum had seemed bossy and strict. But if all people were like his mum, he wouldn’t have had to watch her get shot in the back. Or have seen his brother and sister die, or Holly get hit on the head or …
‘A crime is like your dinner,’ Ross explained. ‘You want to get right on the case while it’s hot. Information you give us today is more valuable than the same information might be tomorrow.’
Dante was finally listening to Ross Johnson. As he turned the tap off, he looked up and saw that the big man was holding out paper towels to dry his hands.
‘My dad didn’t like the police,’ Dante said nervously, as he dried between his fingers. ‘He told me never to speak to cops if they came to the house. But I don’t think that’s what my mum would have wanted. It was the Führer, trying to get my dad to sign papers letting them knock down the clubhouse. Felicity was there. He pulled a gun when my dad said no.’
Ross was excited by this information, but at the same time raised a hand indicating that he wanted Dante to stop talking. ‘Dante, what we need to do is take you to an interview room where I can get everything you say on tape, OK?’
Ross opened the door and Kate was stunned to see Dante chatting away. She didn’t complain, but felt miffed that after all of her efforts to get Dante to come out of his shell he’d opened up after a chance encounter in the gents.
‘I want a cheeseburger and chips from Bay Burgers and loads of ketchup,’ Dante said confidently as Kate led him back down the corridor with Ross striding behind.
Dante suddenly felt odd, but also important. His brain ran at fifty times normal speed and the aches in his head were replaced by sparks of energy.
‘And I don’t want to go back in that horrible room,’ he added. ‘It’s too stuffy.’ Then he stopped suddenly and turned towards Kate. ‘My sister Holly! What was it you told me about Holly?’
Kate smiled. ‘Holly is in the hospital. She had some stitches and lost a lot of blood. She’ll be in hospital for a few days but she’s going to be fine.’
Kate opened the door of the little room with the cushions and toys, but Dante was repelled by the dead air and the sense of gloom he’d felt as he lay on the cushions.
‘I hate this room,’ he said.
‘It’s just for a minute until we find somewhere else,’ Kate explained.
‘We’ll find a room with a window that opens,’ Ross said warmly. ‘You can eat your burger while I set up the tape recorder.’
An image of Jordan and Mum flickered in Dante’s mind. He felt like he was balanced on a cliff’s edge. He was terrified that the room and the cushions would send him back into the aching black space where his mind had spent the last six hours.
‘I can’t go back in there,’ he said, breaking into a loud sob. ‘I want my mum back. Why did this have to happen to me?’
Kate went down on one knee and scooped Dante into her arms. His grip felt surprisingly strong as he grasped her with tears streaking down his face.
5. POOL
Three hours later Ross Johnson came out of an interview room looking stressed. Five long strides took him into an incident room. Chief Inspector Jane Lindsay was the uniformed officer in charge of the murder inquiry. She