Free Snarl by Celina Grace

for it. “I’m sorry but I couldn’t, I was hysterical – I didn’t know what to do…”
    “You’re doing really well, Miss Smith – Mary. What happened then?”
    Another shuddering breath. Mary’s eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling fast. “I was going to go on, go through the house to see if Jack and Madeline were there – I thought – well, I wasn’t really thinking anything, I just was kind of blindly going forward – and then I thought ‘suppose whoever did this is still here,’ and that was it… I just ran, ran out the house and down the driveway. I – I don’t remember much else.”
    As Anderton told them later, a woman from the village , walking her dog along the main road, had seen Mary come screaming out of the driveway, blood-streaked and hysterical, and caught her in her arms. She was the witness who’d called the emergency services.
    “So, let me just check that we’ve got everything,” Anderton said, very soothingly. “You arrived, as normal, at about ten o’clock this morning. You unlocked the door, which is what you would normally do, and you walked in and found Darryl on the floor.”
    Mary nodded.
    “Would Jack Dorsey and his wife normally be at home during the day on a Friday?”
    Mary took in another deep, shaky breath. “Jack definitely wouldn’t be. He’s always at work. Madeline’s sometimes in, but just as often she’s out. That’s why I had the key and the codes.”
    “I see. How did you get the job here?”
    Mary looked confused for a moment before her face cleared. “Through the university. I’m a student at Bath Spa.”
    “How long have you been working here, Mary?”
    “Um… not long. About six months.”
    “That’s great. Could I just ask you to hold on one moment? I’m sure Mandy will make you anot her cup of tea.”
    Anderton drew his offi cers to one side for a moment. “Theo, can you take over here? I don’t think there’s much more she can tell us, other than what she’s already said, but you never know. Kate, Mark, can you get on and see if you can find the CCTV? Quick as you can.”
    They all nodded. Theo sat back down next to Mary. Olbeck inclined his head towards Kate. “After you.”
    “No, I insist,” said Kate, standing back. “After you, DI Olbeck.”
    “Just get on with it,” said Anderton, half smiling. “I’m off.”
    “Where are you off to, sir?” Kate asked as they let the kitchen.
    And erton’s face became grim again. “Hospital,” he said, briefly. “To see if Madeline Dorsey’s alive or dead.”

Chapter Eight
    “So where’s this party, then?” Stuart asked as he helped the others dismantle the table and load it into the back of the dirty white van that they’d parked just outside the gates of MedGen. Stuart, along with James and Rosie, had been manning the leaflet table since he arrived at ten thirty that morning. The leaflets had a variety of gruesome pictures displayed beneath shouting black headlines. Stuart had seen several people, obviously out walking their dogs, stop, looking interested in what they were doing, catch sight of the pictures of bunnies clamped to tables and puppies punctured with needles, and recoil, walking on with a nervous glance back. He wondered whether to point out that these leaflets seemed to be totally counterproductive to their cause and decided not to.
    “We’re heading there now. Want a lift?” asked Rosie. She was struggling to lift a heavy box into the back of the van. Stuart lifted it from her arms and slotted it into place. “Oh, thanks. Why don’t you come with us?”
    “Sure, will do. It’s not like I even know who’s throwing it,” said Stuart. “Whose house is it?”
    Rosie had turned away to gather more boxes. James was already climbing into the front seat of the van. Seeing he wasn’t going to get an answer, Stuart shrugged and went to help Rosie collect the last of the boxes. He wasn’t dressed for a party, but what the hell – he doubted very