In the Light of Madness (21 page)

In the Incident Room, Jones was busy collating information given by the night shift, whilst the rest of the officers were gathered around the coffee machine. The only person who noticed Wednesday’s arrival was Lennox, and after pouring her a coffee, he strode over to her office and tapped on the door.

“Morning, Boss. How are you?”

“Tired and feeling like crap, seeing as you asked. Or did you want the potted version of just a
yes?
”

He smiled. “How’s your mum?”

“Still mad, but thanks for asking,” she whispered.

Lennox brushed across his sharpened hair follicles and was about to walk away, when Wednesday spoke.

“I’m not sure why I’m telling you this, but I found a dead rat on the doorstep last night, and then this morning I found this.”

Wednesday threw him the newspaper which he perused before handing it back.

“It’s this damn cult angle she’s taking,” she said, placing it back in her bag. “I don’t want to tell Hunter about this just yet.”

“Not sure what you want me to do about it. Would you like me to come over after work?”

“That won’t be necessary; I’m just running through my thoughts with you. Scarlett thinks it’s a hoot quite frankly.”

“Spunky girl, your sister.”

“Half-sister.”

Wednesday sat in her office searching through the paperwork, trying to look for links between the cases, chewing on a pencil as she thought about the individuals and wondered what she was missing.

A message alert rang on her mobile from Scarlett who had forwarded a text which she received. It read “BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WRITE. WE ARE WATCHING YOU.” Scarlett concluded the text with a smiley face and an exclamation mark.

Wednesday sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. Maybe she would take Lennox up on his offer.

Chapter Fifteen

Vera Olong rang the doorbell and waited for Emily Dolby to answer. She was slightly taken aback when James Dolby came to the door, recoiling as he saw her. He called to his wife and as Emily’s frail figure glided towards them, he stormed back inside.

“I didn’t expect to see you,” said Emily in her petite voice.

“I felt I should come. Hope you don’t mind.”

Emily looked over her shoulder before whispering to Vera that she could enter, but they would have to sit in the kitchen.

She put the kettle on and busied herself putting biscuits onto a bone china plate.

“I can’t begin to imagine how it must feel to lose a child,” offered Vera as she accepted the china cup and saucer from Emily.

“It’s like a piece of you dies, leaving a black clump attached to your heart forever. I will never be free from that clump of debris,” replied Emily.

Vera gazed at her and smiled weakly.

“You and the reverend don’t have any children. Why is that?”

“We . . . well especially my husband, are dedicated to God, the church, and the parishioners. There’s little time or space in our lives for children.”

“Did you know you would be childless?” whispered Emily. “Because I never imagined I’d end up that way.”

“I didn’t know for sure, but I suspected as much. God is all knowing and magnificent in his supremacy. He leaves little to chance.”

“James has renounced his belief in God, so I pray for our souls, including Tom’s. I need God more than ever. Do you believe, as I do, that Tom just wasn’t right for this world?”

Vera put the cup on the saucer, making a little chinking sound. “My husband would be the right person to respond to that question, not me. But as you ask, perhaps he could only be healed in heaven.”

An awkward silence hung in the air. Vera clasped her hands tightly together in the lap as she looked around the kitchen.

As if ordered to evaporate the tension, the doorbell rang. Emily got up to answer it before her husband could beat her to it.

“Detectives, were we expecting you?”

“No, Mrs Dolby, we’ve brought Tom’s laptop back,” replied Lennox as he handed over the machine.

“Please come in.”

As they entered, they met Vera in the hallway. She acknowledged them with a nod of her head.

“Mrs Olong, carrying out parishioner duties I see,” said Wednesday to her as she skirted along the wall to get passed them.

She smiled weakly, before disappearing down the garden path. The detectives followed Emily into the lounge and sat on the overstuffed sofa.

“Is your husband around?” asked Wednesday.

“He must be in his study. He’s not that keen on Mrs Olong.”

Wednesday noticed Emily’s penetrating stare and her avoidance of Lennox. His people skills enabled him to pick up the same sentiment, so he excused himself to make a phone call in the hallway.

“Do you have children, DI Wednesday?”

“No I don’t, and I can’t pretend to know how you must be feeling right now.”

“I think you’d be shocked if I told you,” she said, averting her gaze.

“I’m not here to judge you, but I am here to listen.”

“Part of me is relieved at no longer having to contend with the teenage angst and behaviour in the house.” She paused to quickly glance at Wednesday. “I didn’t really want to be a mother in the first place, I did it for James.” She bowed her head and toyed with some thread hanging from a button on her blouse.

“Once you had Tom, did your feelings change?” Wednesday asked hesitantly.

There was a weighty pause before Emily continued.

“Of course I loved him, but I didn’t find motherhood a natural process. James, on the other hand, revelled in fatherhood.” She covered her mouth as she coughed. “Perhaps I am a wicked mother,” she said before coughing once more.

“Do you think there was a particular reason for Tom’s anger?”

“We couldn’t figure it out, so we thought the church influence would quell his devil-like temperament, but it didn’t seem to help.”

“I understand his behaviour was never a problem a school.”

“No, he liked his form teacher, Mr Pollock. I think that’s why geography was his favourite lesson.”

Wednesday smiled lightly and sat up straight as Lennox and James returned.

“Glad to see that bloody woman’s gone,” said James, ignoring his wife’s scowl.

“You don’t like the reverend’s wife, then?” asked Lennox.

“I find her a little creepy, can’t explain why, I just do.”

“But you don’t mind attending church?”

“No, it was the reverend I go to listen to.”

Lennox informed them that they needed to search the house for some boots and a travel blanket. Neither person refused the request nor asked why.

They did find a travel blanket in the back of their car, but the colours were wrong. No wellington boots could be found.

Wednesday and Lennox excused themselves and left the couple in the lounge with the glacial atmosphere they had cultivated.

“Heaven preserve me from marriage again,” Lennox said as he climbed into the car.

“It doesn’t have to be like that. I bet they were a happy couple until the death of their son,” responded Wednesday.

Lennox ignored her remark and let smoking take over from conversation until they pulled up outside the home of the Wrights.

They were surprised to see the front door opening as they walked up the path, only to find themselves crossing paths with Vera Olong once more as she exited the house. She walked towards them with her hand covering her left cheek, only just obscuring a red mark.

“Is everything okay?” Wednesday queried.

“I heeded your words, but this is the reaction I get for consoling folk in the name of God,” she replied as she continued walking down the path.

“Do you want to make a complaint?”

Vera shook her head before climbing into her car.

They knocked on the open door and called down the hallway. Within seconds, the burgundy face of Judith Wright appeared. She snarled at them with her stained teeth.

“I thought you were that snooty, interfering church cow come back for some more.”

“We’ve brought Darren’s laptop back. May we come in?” Lennox asked, handing over the computer and putting his foot on the doorstep.

“You might as well. The nosy neighbours don’t need more excuses to look down on us.”

The cluttered hallway still felt oppressive as they made their way to the kitchen. Wednesday moved a pile of local newspapers and celebrity magazines, to free up a chair for herself.

“We’d like to get more details on your first husband and your eldest son, Mrs Wright,” Wednesday said.

“They’ve got nothing to do with my Darren going missing.”

“Is it possible Darren could have run to him, or even have been taken by him?”

“Not likely, last I heard he was living on some commune thing in Scotland,” she replied, pouring the dregs of a bottle into a tea-stained mug.

“Your eldest son is in prison for five years, I understand. How did Darren cope with his incarceration?”

Judith Wright raised her eyebrows and looked at Wednesday with her blank, bloodshot eyes.

“Was he upset when his brother was put away?” she tried again.

“Course he was, but he likes having the bedroom to himself.”

Wednesday had learnt at the station, that Robert Giles had a string of offences, beginning his career as an eleven-year-old young offender until finally progressing to the heady heights of aggravated burglary of a dwelling and assault.

“Do you get to see him often?”

“Plymouth is too far away, train fare is expensive. I send him a card at Christmas and his birthday.”

No glimpse of shame or embarrassment fleeted across her face as she swallowed the last drops of wine, leaving reddish-purple stains at the corners of her mouth, making her look like The Joker.

“Is your husband out?” Wednesday enquired.

“He’s gone to the shops. Why, are you worried he’s been beating me up again,” she replied before letting out a gravelly snigger.

Wednesday dug her nails into the palm of her hand and looked directly at Judith. She was about to speak when Judith spoke again.

“Anyway, why are you wasting your time here? You should be out looking for my son.”

“We’re doing everything we can, Mrs Wright.”

“What about my Darren’s book being found in the vicarage? Has that reverend done something to my Darren?”

“We have no other evidence to support that notion, currently.”

“I feel he’s already dead. Call it a mother’s hunch.” She reached across the table with a shaky hand to grab a packet of cigarettes.

Wednesday wanted to leave the macabre and toxic surroundings, but was prevented from doing so by the arrival of Des Wright who strode into the kitchen and dumped two carrier bags onto the work surface. The contents of the bags chinked. Des pointedly ignored the two detectives, brushing past them to go into the garden for a smoke.

Wednesday looked at the shopping bags and then at Judith Wright, before raising her eyebrows in an unnecessary gesture. Judith’s eyes were drawn to the bags, and she took the opportunity to grab one when Wednesday was distracted by her phone.

At a glance, she saw the phone call was from Scarlett, who had apparently received a package at work containing a dozen beheaded red roses. Wednesday excused herself and called her back straight away.