Free Cherringham--A Lesson in Murder by Neil Richards Page B

poisoning,” said Jack. “Was it your idea?”
    Jack waited a second. He smiled again at Tahir.
    “Your idea — or Freya’s?”
    He watched as Tahir’s jaw dropped. Literally, his mouth just opened like a fish out of water suddenly deprived of air.
    Gotcha, thought Jack.

13. A Pool of Light
    Sarah entered the library.
    An owl-eyed student, focusing on a computer screen, manned the check-out desk. She looked up to Sarah, then back down to the screen.
    Except for this lone student working the desk, the place seemed empty.
    The mammoth library would be the envy of many a university, with towering stacks of books with thick wooden columns leading up to the three-storey high-vaulted ceiling.
    A perfect place to hide on a rainy Sunday.
    After all — who needed libraries anymore?
    She began walking past shelves filled with oversized books … The Peloponnesian Wars , collected histories of Herodotus, bigger books with maps of the ancient world … and even sombre-looking books with titles in Latin.
    They must keep the contemporary fiction way up in the stratospheric shelves on the third floor.
    All the dark and serous stuff here.
    She began seeing small study cubicles with lamps, chair, electric sockets. A place to sit quietly; study, write, read.
    Islands in this sea of books, now all dark though.
    But she kept walking. Maybe Sophie had only told her roommate she was off to the library.
    She could be anywhere. She might have already heard about what happened.
    More quiet steps, and then she heard faint taps in the distance.
    Fingers hitting a keyboard. Such a recognisable sound, and one that seemed out of place in this austere building.
    But there was someone here.
    And Sarah kept walking slowly, the taps getting louder, until nearly at the far end of the library, she saw another one of the cubicles, but in this one, the small desk light was on.
    And huddled in front of a laptop, making those keystrokes, Sarah saw a girl.
    A few more steps, and with the glow of light on her face, she could see it was Sophie.
    She would be surprised to see Sarah, maybe shocked … scared.
    But the bigger question: how would she react to the news that Sarah was bringing?
    And on one more step, an ancient floorboard below the dark maroon rug, made a creak, and Sophie quickly turned away from her screen to look at Sarah.
    Sarah smiled.
    Gently … she told herself.
    “Sophie,” she said, closing the distance between them; the library to themselves.
    No one to hear them.
    *
    Sarah had started by standing beside Sophie.
    But then — after being told what had happened — the girl started crying.
    Sarah crouched down so she was at the same level. Could put an arm on the girl’s shoulders.
    Just like I’d want someone to do with my daughter.
    Sophie rubbing at her eyes … as if that might stem the tears.
    Until Sarah let time do its work — that, and the quiet whispered words, so generic yet somehow so soothing — ‘ it’s okay. It’s all right. Go on …’
    The important thing just to be there.
    Until finally the sobbing stopped, the library once again turning so quiet.
    And Sarah could release the girl, pull over a chair from a nearby cubicle, and, sitting close to Sophie, could begin to talk.
    “We need to understand,” Sarah said. “I need to understand. About you. Ms. Braithwaite. Especially now.”
    The girl’s still wet eyes on her.
    “You get that, don’t you? After the accident, we need to understand it all?”
    Sophie seemed to be thinking about Sarah’s words, weighing them.
    Then in a voice as hushed as anything as Sarah had ever heard in her life, Sophie said: “Yes. I know.”
    Another smile from Sarah, a nod.
    And she thought … now begins the hard part.
    *
    Sophie had closed her laptop as if that might help her concentrate … help her remember what she was about to say.
    She didn’t look at Sarah as she spoke.
    “Something happened between Ms. Braithwaite and Freya. A lot of us knew that. I didn’t know what