In the Light of Madness Read Online Free

able to tell us more,” she suggested.
“Indeed, that’ll be Colin Pollock. I’ll take you to him.” Cleveland stood up and ushered them out of his office.
They followed him down a corridor lined with framed photos of sports teams, music and drama clubs. The air was stale and reminded Lennox of his own miserable school days. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled with the memories.
Cleveland showed them into a classroom where Colin Pollock sat at the front of the class at a desk on a plinth, marking papers.
“Colin, this is . . .” he waved his hands about as he struggled to remember their names, so Wednesday took over.
“DI Wednesday and DS Lennox. We’re investigating the death of Tom Dolby, and the disappearance of Darren Giles.”
Colin Pollock stopped writing and looked over to them in numbed silence.
“Good God . . .”
“In order for us to thoroughly investigate the issues, we need to know more about them. Who were their friends and who were their enemies?” Wednesday asked, gripping her notebook.
Colin cleared his throat and loosened the knot in his tie.
“Tom was quiet but he had a good sense of humour if you spoke to him on a one to one.” He rose from his chair and walked over to Tom’s desk. “He sat here, next to Dylan Frost. They spoke to one another, but I’m not sure you’d call it a friendship. Maybe just a convenience as they sat together.” A thin line of sweat sparkled on Colin’s top lip.
“Did he ever mention if he was being bullied?”
“No, not that I know of,” he said, bowing is head and shoving his hands in his trouser pockets.
There was a knock at the door and a few faces peered through the glass panelled door.
“It’s time for registration, can they come in?” he asked.
Wednesday nodded. “We’ll need to speak to his friends and classmates, then see his locker, so we’ll need to use your office,” she said, turning towards Cleveland.
He made an audible sigh before ushering them out of the room as the students stood back, wide-eyed and chewing gum; a rebellious move in front of the head had it been a normal day.
One by one, the students entered Cleveland’s office looking fearful, anxious, or arrogant. Lennox particularly despised the last trait as he was getting enough of that from his own two sons. They remained stunned or silent when they were informed of Tom Dolby’s demise.
Dylan Frost entered looking the picture of calm.
“What was Tom like to talk to?” Wednesday asked, pen poised before her lips like a cigarette.
“All right I suppose,” he replied, cocking his head at her.
“What did you talk about?”
“Football mostly.”
Wednesday could sense Lennox’s irritability at having to sit through yet another dead-end interview. She was finding it difficult to imagine him as a father.
“Did you ever meet up with him out of school?”
“Not likely,” he said rather abruptly before blushing wildly. Wednesday sat back and studied him carefully.
“Is there something you want to tell us, but aren’t sure how we’ll react? We’re not here to judge you. We want to find the person who did this to your friend.”
“He wasn’t my friend. He was a geek with old people as parents. He was a loser and I only spoke to him because we sat together in form.” Dylan slouched down in the chair as soon as he had finished spouting the words, scuffing the toe of his shoe into the deep pile carpet.
“Is that what everyone thought about him?”
“Yep.”
“What about Darren Giles? They were friends weren’t they?”
“I dunno. Darren was a loser too; I mean have you seen his parents? They’re like gypos,” he replied, standing up swiftly, ready to go.
Wednesday could not deny that Dylan’s description of Darren’s parent’s hit close to the mark. But she still flinched at his words.
“If you think of anything else, no matter how insignificant you think it may be, call me,” she said as she handed him her card, which he promptly shoved into his blazer