Hereford hadn’t changed much in the three years since Sebastian left. It wasn’t quite as storybook as Ross, but the place was not without its charms; the core of the town was mostly Georgian and Victorian architecture, with timber-framed houses and medieval churches scattered here and there. Out toward the edges, the historical character faded away into the same bleak, broken-down industrial wasteland one found throughout Britain.
A few shops and restaurants had closed over the years; a handful of others took their place, but not enough to fill the empty spaces. And there seemed to be more slots and bookies than Sebastian remembered.
Their visit to the police station was short and unfruitful. According to the desk sergeant, Brandon Tyler’s release was “in accordance with standard procedure” — as was their failure to inform Julia he’d been set loose. Wherever Sebastian went, police were all more or less the same: they put most of their effort into the bits of their job that were easy, and did their best to ignore anything that happened to be difficult. As far as the coppers were concerned, their responsibility to Julia Moran ended when they’d referred her to social services.
Julia had told them she’d spoken to a social worker named Alice McCarthy, and that lead took them to High Town.
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