The English Boys Read Online Free Page B

up. “It’s all right, Mum. You go ahead.”
    â€œBut we’re a family. We should go together.”
    â€œI’ll be fine. I’ll ring you tonight.”
    Under Murray’s scrutiny, she nodded and followed her husband out. The room bristled with an uneasy silence as minutes ticked by on the clock. The bridesmaids sat together, eyeing everyone else in the small room. Nearby, Sarah Williams looked lost in thought. Daniel distanced himself from her as much as possible, relieved they had been told not to speak. An interminable twenty minutes later, a constable came into the room, clipboard in hand.
    â€œMiss Williams.” He looked up from his notes as Sarah straightened her skirt and stood. She gave Daniel a self-satisfied smile and followed the officer out of the room.
    The two other young women still sat huddled together, texting furiously as they were forced to wait. He wasn’t the only man in the room who noticed them. A striking, muscular man in a leather suit jacket was propped against the wall, brooding. He narrowed his eyes, frowning in Daniel’s direction. Daniel recognized two people in the corner as old friends of Tamsyn’s from her days in the theater. She had mentioned Dylan Cole and Lucy Potter to him on more than one occasion. They were an odd pair from what he could see, unconnected to the rest of the party. He knew that in earlier days, they and Tamsyn had made a hard-partying lot, with her the center of attention. In recent months, they were more a fringe group hanging on as Tamsyn made her way up the hierarchy of the British acting community. They might be scorned by the respectable members of the party, but, in turn, they seemed to disdain everyone present even more.
    The film producer Sir John Hodges and his wife, Antonia, with whom Daniel had become familiar, regarded the proceedings with something bordering on outrage. The Hodges had produced the Hardy film in which he, Hugh, and Tamsyn had starred, and they were now in post-production, making arrangements to promote the picture. A great deal had been expected of it. On the other side of them, Marc Hayley sat next to his date, Anna Parrish, who was talking in a low voice on her mobile.
    One by one, they were called in to speak to the police, until eventually Daniel was the only person left in the room. In spite of himself, his heart beat faster as he wondered if the police could possibly think he would kill someone he cared for as much as Tamsyn.
    He waited to be assigned to a police officer, practicing his statements in his head in spite of himself: I have no idea what happened. She was perfectly fine when I saw her; eager to get married. We talked, like any normal day. While thoughts swirled in his tired brain, Inspector Murray himself walked over, and rather than taking Daniel into a separate room like everyone else, he pulled up a chair and sat next to him. The poor lighting threw shadows in the tracery of lines on the older man’s face.
    â€œYou’re Daniel Richardson,” he stated.
    â€œYes, sir,” Daniel replied, waiting for him to take out a pen and pad of paper, but the Inspector merely crossed his arms.
    â€œHow long have you known Miss Burke?”
    â€œAlmost a year,” he answered.
    â€œI understand you were close.”
    â€œYes,” he managed. “I introduced her to Hugh, in fact.”
    â€œAnd you’ve been friends with Hugh for a number of years.”
    â€œYes, since we were young.”
    Murray’s eyes narrowed. “How did you feel about them becoming a couple?”
    Privately, Daniel had thought them mismatched, but he wouldn’t say that to the inspector. Instead, he answered, “They were happy. They were my friends. I was happy for them.”
    â€œCan you tell me what happened this morning?”
    â€œI have no idea. I went to talk to her, to wish her luck. I don’t think I was in there more than five minutes, if