Free In the Light of Madness by In The Light Of Madness Page A

as he proclaims to be.”
They arrived at Mr Pollock’s form room to find him once again hunched over his desk, sifting through a pile of papers. They tapped on the door.
“Is it important, I’ve got some marking to finish,” he called out as he glanced in their direction.
“Someone else who was too busy last night to get things done,” whispered Lennox, as he leant into her. He got a gentle waft of her vanilla and burnt sugar scent.
“I’m sorry, Mr Pollock. We’ve come with some more bad news. And we’d like to ask you a few questions,” Wednesday said calmly.
Pollock hurriedly pushed the papers together and looked at them from underneath his bushy eyebrows. The corners of his mouth twitched as they approached him.
“Claudia Edwards was found dead this morning.”
Pollock’s eyes blinked rapidly. “I somehow knew something bad would happen to her one day.”
They gazed at him and waited for him to expand on his statement.
“She was quite flirtatious with the boys, you know, wearing her kilt too short, flicking her hair over her shoulders and giggling at the stupid things boys said. I often thought she’d be the first in the class to get pregnant.”
No chance of that now, thought Wednesday.
“Did she have a boyfriend?”
“She had a few on the go according to the gossip.”
“We’ll need their names and to talk to them.”
“You can interview them in the room next door. That class is on a museum trip today.”
Wednesday and Lennox watched the students file in and take their seats, still talking to one another and immune to their presence. As Colin Pollock called out the names Ralph, Tony, and James, the rest of the class jeered and whistled as the three red faced boys rose up to join the detectives. Lennox fetched Cleveland to join them.
Wednesday and Lennox sat opposite the boys, the smell of tobacco seeping from their blazers. It was exactly that repulsive smell that made Wednesday desire to give up.
“We understand you’re all friends of Claudia Edmonds,” Lennox said.
The boys nodded whilst nudging one another and suppressing giggles. Cleveland glared at them from a corner of the room.
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Yesterday, in class,” replied the lanky blond boy, Ralph, who slouched in his seat at the end of the table.
“Did any of you see her last night?”
The boys scuffed their shoes on the floor, eyes firmly cast down. Lennox repeated the question and this time the boy with severe acne on his forehead replied.
“We were supposed to meet up with her last night, but . . .” he stopped as he was punched on the arm by the boy with the angular face.
“But what?” asked Lennox, staring at them.
“Why, what’s she saying about us?”
Lennox fixed his stare on them. “This is serious. We can meet up with your parents at the station if you prefer.”
The lanky boy swiftly sat upright with a look of panic on his face.
“We didn’t see her in the end,” he said in a shaky voice.
“Come on lads, give us the whole story. Did you go round for some fun, but she refused, is that it?”
“No,” said Ralph, slamming his palms on the table and glaring at Lennox.
Cleveland growled Ralph’s name but Wednesday raised her hand to him.
“Well then, tell us what happened.”
James and Tony turned to Ralph and widened their eyes. Taking his cue, he inhaled deeply before speaking.
“Claudia said her parents were away, and that if we went around at seven, we could have some fun.” The boy flushed before continuing. “Anyway, we were all there, ringing on the doorbell but she wasn’t in.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“Pissed off. She’d led us on all day at school and then backed down. Sign of a true bitch.”
“Typical teasing cow,” muttered Tony.
“Do you think she was in the house but not letting you in?”
“Of course she was. Where else would she be?”
“What makes you so sure if you didn’t see her?”
“We don’t know for sure. No lights were on, but we