“Okay, we’ll agree grieving is a real possibility,” Maddie said. “But if he did quit school when Linsey Benton died, you can’t blame me for thinking that could be significant. And the police will want to talk to him. Probably have already.” But Jade had put earphones in and was eating her sandwich, her eyes on her phone.
Maddie sighed. Her older daughter Olivia had been an easy teen. Jade had shifted from being a bright little girl, social and enthusiastic, to this … this Goth sitting in front of her ignoring her mother; it was as if a switch had been pulled one winter’s day when she was fourteen. What should have been a few months, had been getting on for three very long years.
She sliced the beef and put it into the hot gravy while she dished up the potatoes and broccoli she’d been heating on the stove top. She set the table around Jade and called out to Wayne.
“Smells good,” Jade said, emerging from whatever she’d been listening to. “Any extra?”
Maddie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “There’s enough for you. Any veggies to go with it?”
“No, just meat and gravy, thanks.”
At least a ‘thanks’.
“That girl who died, she was at school that morning, you know,” Jade said.
“Was she?” Maddie murmured in a noncommittal response.
“Went off straight away, though. Freya says she was skiving school to meet up with Brody.”
“Was she now….”
“Was who doing what?” Wayne asked, sitting himself down for dinner.
“That dead girl,” Jade said. “She ran off that morning to meet up with her boyfriend.”
He looked at Maddie.
She raised her eyebrows. Commenting would probably close Jade down.
“Freya heard he’d been at school that morning but only for an hour or two. Wagged the rest of the week. Now he’s quit.”
“Which school?” Wayne asked.
Jade shrugged. “One of the boys’ schools in town. Kingston or Tiffins. Dunno.” She looked up to see both parents looking at her. It was as if two were too many. She stood and slouched out after neatly arranging her knife and fork on her plate.
Maddie pointed to it after Jade was safely upstairs. “Gives me a particle of hope.”
Wayne laughed.
After dinner, Maddie put a load of clothes into the washing machine. She’d asked Wayne to do it during the day, but, as so often happened, if she asked him to do something, he ‘forgot’. If he thought of it himself, she had to make a fuss about what a good thing it was. So, it meant she was always having to make a decision whether to ask him to do something or wait until it intruded on his consciousness. And suffer whatever remained undone in silent frustration.
This boy Brody, surely the police would be closely questioning him. She knew, at the back of her mind, a new suspect, a better suspect, needed to be found to divert the police attention away from Henry. Could a new suspect be Brody? He sounded like a more likely option than Henry anyway.
But would that solve Henry’s problem? Now he was in a proper prison again, things could stagnate. In circumstances like these, someone rotting in prison was out of mind, somehow. She’d known of many cases which ended up with apologies from the authorities when finally a wrongly accused, or even proven innocent person was released weeks, months even years afterwards. She was determined Henry would not be forgotten.
The phone rang.
“Madeleine? It’s Sharon speaking.”
Maddie hesitated for a split second. Then she knew. Aussie accent. Freya’s mother.
“Hi. How are you?”
“Fine,” she said in a distracted voice. “I … um, we have a great favour to ask. And if it is not convenient, just say the word. I know my Freya.” She laughed.
Maddie laughed too, but more at Sharon’s jumbled conversation than at Freya. Sharon was a sophisticated woman in high fashion, yet here she was stumbling over her words.
“Spit it out,” Maddie said. “I’ll react honestly.”
“I have to be in New York next Friday. Big meeting. Flying me over. We thought maybe ….” She faltered again.
“Freya could stay here? Is that it?”
“Could she?” The relief came pouring down the line. “Donald and I thought we could make it a romantic weekend – long weekend – in New York for just the two of us. You know, marriages need a touch of romance every now and again.” She was gabbling.
“No prob, Sharon. When are you leaving?”
“Thursday morning. We could see her off to school, then if she comes back to your place with Jade? We fly back Sunday afternoon.”
Maddie did the arithmetic. Three nights including a school day and both days of the weekend. But teenagers don’t need entertaining as such. Not these two Goths, anyway. “Have a lovely time, Sharon. And that idea of a weekend away does sound awfully enticing.”
She came off the phone in a pensive mood. When had she and Wayne had a weekend away? Never? And having Freya now would mean Sharon and Donald owed them. Ideas started to whirl around her head. A weekend to rekindle romance. It felt like more than a good idea; it felt like a necessity.
On arrival at work the next day, she found a note on her desk saying she was to go to Romania’s office as soon as she arrived. Maddie felt a fresh wave of frustration. This harassment was never ending. What had she done this time? Maybe taken longer than she was ‘allowed’ for her afternoon break when she went to the charity shop? She sighed and shoved her bag away before making a cup of tea and heading to Romania’s office.
“Come in,” she said to Maddie. “Sit.”
Maddie bit back a retort that she was not a dog. Not even a bitch. The thought brought a smile to her lips.
“Nothing to smile about, Madeleine Brooks.”
Maddie stared at her. The woman was beyond the pale. Who did she think she was, anyway? Treating professionals as if they were her own personal slaves. But Maddie was street-wise enough to keep her thoughts to herself.
“I gather you’ve been loading yet more work onto one of our Service Officers. I made a specific and totally clear directive to you that we are to lighten their load, not increase it. And you’re not stupid; you understood. So, Ms Brooks, explain yourself.”
Maddie looked at Romania and could only see an oversized Pitbull terrier. Slitty little eyes staring straight through her, growling, off the leash – all the signs she was after prey.
An overwhelming surge of frustration welled up and spilled over. “I’m giving you formal notice,” Maddie said in a soft voice, “that as of right now, I plan on working to rule.” She stood up and walked out. She was vaguely aware that Romania was talking, but the intense pounding in her ears meant she couldn’t hear and she didn’t stop. She grabbed her bag from her desk and continued walking until she was in the carpark and at her car. Her hands were shaking so hard, she couldn’t work the remote key fob. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply and unclenched her hands, shoulders, jaw until finally the pounding lessened. She held her arms out. Still shaking, but not as much. She got the key into place and turned the car on. She drove the short distance to Starbucks and ordered a decaf coffee. She certainly didn’t need caffeine when feeling like this. And she shouldn’t be driving.
While drinking the coffee, letting her mind wander anywhere except work, she received a text.
Romania. She was suspended. HR would be in touch.