She said, “I keep buying these,” in reference to copies of the Big Issue, “and then I never get a chance to read them. Take a few if you like. Or do you buy them yourselves?” She glanced over her shoulder and added, “Ah. Well, everyone ought, you know. Oh, I know what people think: If I buy one, this unwashed sod’ll go off and spend the profit on drugs or booze, won’t he, and how will that be of help to him? But what I say is that people might want to stop assuming the worst and start pitching in to make a difference in this country.” She looked round the office as if seeking other employment and said, “Well, that didn’t much help, did it. One of you still has to stand. Or shall we all stand? Is that better? Tell me this: Is TO31 finally going to take notice of us?”
Actually, Lynley told her as Barbara Havers wandered to the bookshelf to have a look at Ulrike Ellis’s many volumes, he and DC Havers were not there representing Community Affairs. Rather, they’d come to talk to the director of Colossus about Kimmo Thorne. Did Ms. Ellis know the boy?
Ulrike sat behind her desk. Lynley took the chair. Havers remained at the volumes, reaching for one of several framed photographs that stood among them. Ulrike said, “Has Kimmo done something? See here, we’re not responsible for the kids’ staying out of trouble. We don’t even claim to be able to do that. Colossus is about showing them alternatives, but sometimes they still choose the wrong ones.”
“Kimmo’s dead,” Lynley said. “You may have read about the body that was found in St. George’s Gardens, up in St. Pancras. He’s been identified in the press by now.”
Ulrike said nothing in reply at first. She merely stared at Lynley for a good five seconds before her glance went to Havers, still in possession of one of her photographs. She said, “Put that down, please,” in the calmest possible voice. She loosed her plaits from their binding and refastened them tightly before she said more. Then it was merely, “I phoned…I did phone the moment I was told.”
“So you knew he was dead?” Havers put the photograph back in place but facing outward so Lynley could see it: a very young Ulrike, an older man in minister’s garb who might have been her father, and between them the brightly clad figure of Nelson Mandela.
Ulrike said, “No. No. I didn’t mean…When Kimmo failed to come to day five of his assessment course, Griff Strong reported him, as he was meant to do. I phoned Kimmo’s probation officer straightaway. That’s how we do it if one of our kids is ordered here by the magistrate or by Social Services.”
“Griff Strong is…?”
“A social worker. Trained as a social worker, I mean. We’re not social workers per se at Colossus. Griff leads one of our assessment courses. He does extremely well with the kids. Very few of them drop out once they’ve had Griff.”
Lynley saw Havers take down this information. He said, “Is Griff Strong here as well today? If he knew Kimmo, we’re going to want to speak to him.”
“To Griff?” Ulrike looked at her phone for some reason, as if this would give her the answer. “No. No, he’s not in. He’s bringing in a delivery…” She seemed to feel the need to toss her plaits into a more comfortable position. “He said he’d be late today, so we’re not expecting him until…You see, he does our T-shirts and sweatshirts. A sideline of his. You may have seen them outside reception. In the glass case. He’s an excellent social worker. We’re very lucky to have him.”
Lynley felt Havers looking his way. He knew what she was thinking: more depths to plumb here.
He said, “We’ve another dead boy as well. Jared Salvatore. Was he also one of yours?”
“Another…”
“There are five deaths we’re investigating in all, Ms. Ellis.”
Havers added, “Do you read the newspapers, by any chance? Does anyone round here, if it comes to that?”
Ulrike looked at her. “I hardly think that question’s fair.”
“Which one?” Havers said, but she didn’t wait for an answer. “This is a serial killer we’re talking about. He’s going after boys round the age of those you’ve got standing in your carpark smoking fags. One of them could be next, so pardon my manners, but I don’t care what you think is fair.”
In other circumstances, Lynley would have reined the constable in at this point. But he could see that Havers’ demonstration of impatience had had a positive effect. Ulrike got to her feet and went over to the filing cabinet. She squatted and jerked out one of the crammed drawers, which she fingered through rapidly. She said, “Of course I read…I look at the Guardian. Every day. Or as often as I can.”
“But not recently, right?” Havers said. “Why is that?”
Ulrike didn’t reply. She continued going through her files. She finally slammed the drawer closed and rose, empty handed. She said, “There is no Salvatore among our kids. I hope that satisfies you. And now let me ask you something in turn: Who sent you to Colossus in the first place?”
“Who?” Lynley asked. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on. We have enemies. Any organisation like this…trying to make the slightest degree of change in this bloody backward country…Do you honestly think there aren’t people out there who want us to fail? Who put you on to Colossus?”
“Police work put us on to Colossus,” Lynley said.
“The Borough High Street station, to be specific,” Havers added.
“You actually want me to believe…You’ve come here because you think Kimmo’s death has something to do with Colossus, haven’t you? Well, you wouldn’t even be thinking that if it hadn’t been suggested by someone outside these walls, be that someone from Borough High Street station or someone from Kimmo’s life.”
Like Blinker, Lynley thought. Except Kimmo’s stud-faced mate hadn’t once mentioned Colossus, if he even had known about it. He said, “Tell us what happens in the assessment course.”
Ulrike went back to her desk. For a moment, she stood there looking down at her phone, as if waiting for a prearranged deliverance. Beyond her, Havers had moved to a wall of degrees, certificates, and commendations, where she’d been jotting down salient details from the objects on display. Ulrike watched her. She said quietly, “We care about these kids. We want to make a difference for them. We believe that the only way to do that is through connection: one life to one life.”
“Is that the assessment, then?” Lynley asked. “The attempt to connect with the young people who come here?”
It was that and far more than that, she told them. It was the young people’s first experience with Colossus: a fortnight in which they met daily in a group of ten other young people with an assessment leader: Griffin Strong, in Kimmo’s case. The object was to engage their interest, to prove to them that they could achieve success in one area or another, to establish in them a sense of trust, and to encourage them to commit to taking part in the Colossus programme. They began with developing a personal code of conduct for the group, and each day they assessed what had gone on-and been learned-the day before.
“Ice-breaking games at first,” Ulrike said. “Then trust activities. Then a personal challenge, like climbing the rock wall out the back. Then a trip which they plan and take together. Somewhere into the countryside or to the sea. Hiking in the Pennines. Something like that. At the end, we invite them back for classes. Computers. Cookery. Single living. Health. From learning to earning.”