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

guessed she was hiding upstairs or something.”
James yawned loudly and began shifting his feet around on the floor so that the soles of his shoes made squeaking sounds.
“How long did you wait outside for?”
“Dunno,” he shrugged, “about ten minutes I suppose, then we went back to mine.” Ralph shoved his hands in his trouser pockets.
“Can your parents verify that?”
“No, they weren’t in. That’s why we went back there. My dad has a stash of beer, so we had a bottle each and played on the Xbox.”
Lenox sat back in his chair. “We’ll need you to make statements at the station in the presence of your parents.”
The boys looked at one another before James spoke.
“What, because we had a beer?” The three of them sniggered openly. “Our parents won’t care about that.” They slapped each other on the back.
“No boys,” said Wednesday, standing up to stretch her legs. “It’s more serious than that. Now if you’re telling the truth, you have nothing to worry about.”
A look of alarm spread across the boys’ faces, and the acne on Tony’s face flushed a violent puce. Ralph’s face drained of colour as he wound his school tie around his fingers.
Lennox stood up to join Wednesday. “Leave your names, addresses, and phone numbers on that sheet, then you can go back to class.”
As they were walking out of the school, Wednesday’s mobile rang and she was informed that Claudia’s parents had been informed of their daughter’s death by the Met officers and they were now at home. The family liaison officer was already there.
“Let’s smoke before this one,” she said, sensing every muscle in her body tightening.
Lennox reached into his pocket and pulled out a battered packet of cigarettes, from which they both took one. “This is an unpleasant one,” he said before lighting up.
Wednesday lit hers and took in a deep drag before answering. “The violence of her death will be impossible to conceal in this place. Gossip spreads like oil on water,” she replied, letting the smoke swirl out of her mouth with every word.
 
They pulled up outside a sizable detached property, and saw Janice Parker’s car outside. A black convertible BMW sat outside the garage.
The hefty brass lion-head door knocker made an impressive and apt sound of doom as Lennox swung it. Seconds later, a tall elegant man opened the door.
“You’d better come in,” Greg Edwards said.
He led them into the lounge where a statuesque woman in grey cashmere stood with her arm draped across the black marble mantelpiece. She was the epitome of allure.
Mrs Lucinda Edwards looked right through them as though they were apparitions in a nightmare. But once Wednesday starting talking about the crime, she fainted. She crumpled onto the sheepskin rug, in almost slow motion. Tension and pain crackled through the air. The doctor was called out, and Greg Edwards poured himself a brandy. Parker went to the kitchen to make some tea whilst the claws of bereavement and death took a stranglehold on the house.
Lucinda Edwards was now lying on the sofa being attended to by her overly attentive doctor, who prescribed Valium to aid her through the shock.
“Would it be possible to talk to Mrs Edwards before she takes the medication, we know this is unspeakably hard, but we need to move fast,” asked Wednesday.
The doctor looked towards his patient and she responded by nodding weakly.
“Do you often leave your daughter alone?” asked Wednesday.
Before Lucinda Edwards could speak, her husband answered.
“She is . . . was almost sixteen, there’s no law against it.” He stood rigidly in the bay window, warming his brandy before sipping it. His stance was defensive as he stared at Wednesday.
“That wasn’t what I was insinuating, sir. We need to find out who else knew she spent time alone here.”
“I don’t know the answer to that. We go about once a month. Lucinda and I love the theatre and we have a flat in London.”
“Did Claudia have a