“I have heard that teenagers that abuse drugs are more likely to misuse their inhalers too,” he told her. “So perhaps you are right, perhaps they believe it will give them a bigger hit or something. I’ll talk to my colleagues, see if anyone has any ideas.”
But Mrs Thompson’s reply to her earlier call was much more illuminating.
“Right, Dr Hughes,” she started. “The preventer inhaler, it’s a steroid, isn’t it?”
“Well, generally, yes,” Callie replied cautiously.
“And steroids cause weight gain, right?”
“Well, no, not these sorts of steroids and anyway, the dose is tiny, just a few micrograms.”
“Oh, well that seems to be Anna’s concern.”
“She thinks she’ll put on weight if she uses her preventer inhaler?”
“That’s right. You know how sensitive she is about her weight.”
“All teenage girls are.”
“Goes with the territory,” Mrs Thompson agreed.
“So where do you think this information came from?”
“She just said ‘everyone knows’ and ‘dunno’ when I asked her that.”
“Okay, well, at least I have something to go on now. Thank you. Please tell Anna that she needs to use her preventer and reassure her that they won’t make her put on weight. I’ll get onto the local asthma consultant and tell him what’s going on. We’re due to speak at a school assembly later this week, so we’ll focus on that particular bit of misinformation. That’s been really helpful. Thank you.”
And it had. Although, as she explained to Billy later, it didn’t entirely explain why the school drug dealer had so many salbutamol inhalers in his possession.
“He was probably just taking advantage of the situation. Supply and demand.”
“But how would he get hold of a regular supply?”
“Recruit all the asthmatics he knows and get them to over-order.”
Callie gave that some thought, it seemed pretty devious, but actually quite easy to do.
“Perhaps if I could speak with the lad who was dealing…” she mused.
“You’ll be lucky to find out who it is. Can’t see the school releasing his name to you.”
Callie knew Billy was right, she had to find another way of identifying him, and stopping him from continuing to sell inhalers. His actions might have contributed to the death of one girl already and nearly killed another. She made a mental note to speak to the consultant again before their talk at the school. They needed to make sure they made it clear that steroid inhalers did not cause weight gain.
Chapter 25
Just as she was due to leave for work the next morning, Callie got a text from Miller suggesting they meet for lunch. There was also a message from DC Nugent telling her to watch breakfast television.
Switching on the TV as she said goodbye to Billy, Callie saw the picture of the young boy on the screen.
“Is that the age regression pic your mate at the lab did for body number nine?” Billy asked, pausing at the door.
“Yes. It is.” Callie turned the sound up.
“Police in Hastings are asking for help in identifying a body that was found on the beach at about the same time as the terrible tragedy of the migrant boat capsize. They believe one of the young men found was not from that boat and earlier, I spoke to Detective Inspector Miller about the reasons why.”
The picture changed to a pre-recorded section where Miller stood, looking slightly uncomfortable, in front of Hastings’ main police station.
“We believe that one of the bodies found on the beach at Fairlight might not be that of a migrant and that he may be connected to the body of a young woman, identified as Michelle Carlisle, found later. No one has come forward to identify this young man and we have come to believe that it is possible he has been missing for some considerable time, perhaps living rough, or in a squat, in London. Given that his family may not have seen him since he was a teenager, or younger, we have done an age regression picture of him in the hope that someone may recognise him from this.”
The sanitised picture of body nine, as he was now, and the picture of him as he might have looked as a young boy were then flashed up on screen. The presenter then finished with another plea for anyone recognising either picture to get in touch and giving out the phone numbers for them to do so.
“Well that should get them a few phone calls,” Billy said before giving her another quick kiss on the cheek and hurrying out to work.
Callie thought that that was probably an understatement.
* * *
The café where she had agreed to meet Miller was near the pier, and Callie walked past the amusement arcade on her way. She was surprised to see Peter Claybourne standing outside the arcade, almost as if he was waiting for her. He waved and smiled as she passed. No, Callie thought, that wasn’t a smile it was more of a smirk, just like the one he had had on his face at the MP’s meeting, and made her feel that he knew something that she didn’t. And that she wasn’t going to like it when she found out.
If so, he would have been right.
“The Superintendent has had a complaint,” he said between hurried mouthfuls of a cheese omelette washed down with black coffee. Sergeant Jeffries was eating a full English, including fried bread and black pudding and had an extra-large mug of tea to go with it. The speed at which he was shovelling it into his mouth made Callie alarmed for his digestion if not his cardiovascular system, but at the moment the only casualty seemed to be his tie, which had a blob of egg yolk sliming its way slowly down it.
“Oh yes? Who from?” Callie asked, although she had
