The Night Children

Chapter 45

Some people nodded in the crowd, their eyes glassy with the memory of the clue. Isaac tensed next to me, but he was still staring intently at the Judge, as if ignoring Pincels words entirely.

"Weeks turned into months and reports gathered, with more local children being taken nightly." He nodded to a woman in the jury box and I narrowed my eyes at her. I recognised her from somewhere but couldn't quite pin point her youthful face. "Mrs Bland, you lost your son Colton a few months back."

I felt my eyes widen as I realised the young mother as Coltons parent. She looked more rugged now, her hair pulled into a tight pony tail of knots. She only pressed her lips together and nodded at Pincel, although I saw her swallow uneasily.

"Mr Harrington, your daughter Amber was among the first child to go missing." Pincel motioned towards a bald man in the audience and he nodded in response. He then turned to a mother clutching her daughter with shaky hands and I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I recognised the daughters large, grey eyes. Chloe held her mother's hand, her expression hard to read as she stared at Pincel. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here and I didn't blame her. Listening to the other stories of murdered children when your own little sister was among them would nearly be unbearable to withstand.

"And Miss Roselyn, your daughter was another little girl who went missing after school practise." Pincel said, his face grim but I knew it was all an act. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was simply appealing to the audience by using pathos. Pin pointing a select few locals to ensure they were filled with the dense emotion of sadness. He was playing with their emotions, ensuring they would value his word when he turned their emotions of longing into anger towards me. He wasn't dumb, I thought sadly, he knew what he was doing.

Chloe blinked at me, something passing beneath her eyes. If I wasn't looking closer enough I wouldn't have noticed it. Pity. It was hidden amongst the greyness of his irises, obscured by her long eyelashes. She pitied me sitting in front of the court. Her eyes flickered to the cuffs that bound my wrists then gazed back up to meet my eyes. She frowned slightly, but clenched her mother's hand more tightly before glancing away.

Pincel continued, rising his voice to make it boom through the silent court. "And so we are left here today with shattered parents, distraught siblings and distressed individuals."

He walked forwards, the eyes of many following his movements. He looked so professional in front of the crowd, his sheriff uniform glinting in the lights.

"But we were left to wonder if the children were disappearing or something darker was taking them at night." He dramatically paused his pacing to look over the audience, ensuring each and every one was paying attention to him. They were.

"So we asked ourselves, if the children weren't disappearing, then where were they?" Now his eyes glinted, mischief evident in then. He turned to the Mayor, nodding at the slightest.

"Who could leave at the brink of darkness and steal children so effortlessly? Who could hide their bodies so well? Who had the opportunity to get their hands on deadly weaponry?"

Pincel then turned to me, a smile only I could see plastered across his face. "Why, Renee seems like the perfect match for a murderer don't you think?"

Whispers went through the room, my name echoing off the walls to drill in my mind. I only glared at Pincel, digging my nails into the cuffs that wrapped around my wrists. The Sheriff turned to Harry and gestured towards several documents sitting on his unoccupied chair. Harry reached over slowly and handed the documents to Pincel. Pincel snatched them away, opening the folder to sprawl it over the desk in front of the Judge.