Kraal

Chapter 4: Cole

Brown closed the door behind her with a grim expression. She and Cole had just delivered the news of the of the boy's death to his family, before leaving them in the care of two Liaison Officers.

The family wasn't local. The journey had taken just over an hour from Westwood Falls and the boy's parents couldn't give any information as to why their son was found almost sixty miles away from home.

"What was that?" Brown asked, following Cole up the path.

Cole stopped and observed her with a raised eyebrow. "What was what?"

"You may as well have blamed that woman for her son's death."

Cole shook his head impatiently and stomped in the direction of his car, drawing his shoulders up to his ears to block out the harsh wind and the sound of Brown's angry footsteps pounding against the pavement.

The first fallen leaves crunched under his boots, this street was already in the amber throws of autumn, even though it was just the beginning of September.

Autumn was Cole's favourite season, it reminded him of his family. His son, Jacob, used to love jumping into piles of dried leaves in his wellingtons, much to his Mother's dismay. His daughter, Jaimie, collected pine cones that she decorated with glitter so they looked like they were frosted with snow. She bundled them up in little baskets that she gifted to relatives at Christmas. Cole had hoped that she would never lose her artistic flair and that Jacob would always love the sound of dried leaves underfoot, but they became teenagers and their time was divided between friends, homework and resenting their father.

"Cole," Brown pulled on his arm and he turned to face her. "I know this last year has been tough on you, but you can't let it affect your work. If that family makes a complaint-"

"They won't," Cole said, lightly shaking her off. "Their son was fifteen years old and they had no idea if he came home last night. I only pointed out that they had an obligation to know where their children are at all times."

They had discovered that the boy's name was Thomas Greig, academically average, popular and a keen footballer. His mother said that a couple of months back, Thomas started showing up with unexplained injuries – a black eye, a bust lip. His father said it wasn't unusual for him to stay out all night, they thought it was just a phase he was going through and they trusted him to keep himself safe. They figured that he was getting into fights, but was able to hand himself. Cole had struggled to maintain his composure.

His wife, Dianne, said that Cole was too strict with their kids, kept them too close, wrapped them in cotton wool, but at least he knew where they were every night.

Brown sighed. "Yeah, well you're lucky that guy in there wasn't bigger. I think he wanted to hit you."

Cole snorted as he ducked into the car. "Yeah, I saw that in his eyes."

Cole started the car as Brown smoothed her platinum hair in the reflection of the passenger side mirror.

"You've got to feel bad for them," She said. "They've lost their kid and they'll have to identify his body, sit through a press conference and then one day hear the awful truth about what happened to their baby. Can you imagine-" Brown swallowed her next words.

Cole made no indication that he had heard what Brown said, but the pair were silent for the rest of the journey.