In the Light of Madness Read Free Page B

toxicology. For now we have bugger all to go on.” He took a sip of strong black coffee whilst the room remained tacit and focused.
“SOCO are at the cemetery now and a fingertip search is underway. Wednesday and Lennox will go to the school where both boys went. Arlow and Damlish can head up the team to search for the missing boy, Darren Giles, and I’ll prepare a statement with the chief press officer for the media. Right, let’s get to it, we need a lead.”
The Incident Room erupted into a hive of activity, each officer keen to find the breakthrough needed in the first forty-eight hours. All keen to impress Hunter.
“Shall I drive?” Wednesday asked.
“Mind if I do? I think more clearly when I drive.”
Walking in his wake, she was slightly overpowered by his musk aftershave. She hoped her own perfume was masking her cigarette stench just as successfully.
 
Markham Hall School was nestled in an expanse of neatly trimmed grass, with wooded areas to either side. It was an imposing building with the semblance of a fortress. It used to be an all boys grammar school, but it was now a mixed comprehensive, much to the annoyance of the elders in the town and surrounding villages.
Clusters of students dribbled their way to the main entrance, unaware of the devastating news they would soon be privy to.
“Would you take this interview, Boss,” Lennox announced as he pulled into a parking space. “You’ve got the air of an all girls grammar school about you.”
“Is it that obvious?” she replied, blushing slightly.
He remained mute, rubbing his hand through his spiky hair, making the ends stand to attention. Surreptitiously he checked himself in the rear-view mirror before getting out of the car.
Being in plain clothes meant the students were not fazed by their arrival. If anything, the pair looked more like a visitation from OFSTED. Entering the double doors, they were jostled by a few boisterous lads playing rugby with someone’s rucksack. Wednesday heard Lennox mutter something under his breath.
“We’re looking for the headmaster,” announced Lennox to the woman sitting behind the reception hatch. She peered over the glasses on the tip of her nose. Her white hair clung to her scalp in tight curls.
“Is he expecting you?”
They retrieved their ID cards from their pockets and flashed them at the unflappable woman.
“I see,” she said, still unmoved. “I’ll phone through.”
Within seconds, a suave man of slim build with slicked back hair arrived.
“I’m the headmaster, Stewart Cleveland. How can I be of assistance?”
“Could we have a word in your office, Mr Cleveland?”
With a shrug of his shoulders and a raise of eyebrows, Stewart Cleveland guided them down a corridor.
The opulence was apparent as soon as they stepped through the heavily studded door. A large walnut desk housed a laptop and a set of Montblanc pens. His chair, which looked rather like a throne, was made of green leather and swivelled around so he could survey every angle of the room. Tennis courts could be seen through the leaded windows behind his desk.
“I’m sorry to inform you that one of your students was found dead last night. His name was Tom Dolby.”
“Dead? How?”
“We’re not sure exactly. And Darren Giles is missing.”
Cleveland’s face visibly drained. “Good God, I’ve never had this happen before.”
“We’d like to know more about them; their friends, teachers, any problems at school.”
Cleveland swivelled towards his computer and pounded on the keyboard.
“Not much to say really. Tom was a bright lad who was heading towards uni. Generally quiet with no behavioural problems reported. Darren was the exact opposite.” He swivelled around again so he was facing them once more, cupping his hands together and resting them on the leather-bound blotter on his desk.
Wednesday scanned the plethora of silver framed certificates hanging on the wall, all embossed with his name.
“Perhaps their form tutor would be