Who Wants To Live Forever?. Steve Wilson

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СКАЧАТЬ was cancelled. Who did they think they were, treating him like that? He had rights, and he knew it. Without him and Emma, the whole thing would have floundered anyway.

      Then he stopped for a moment and thought. Perhaps there was more to be gained from this than he’d considered? There were some rich pickings to be had if he played his cards right. He had listened while those old fools had told everybody their life history; she, in particular, was almost falling over herself to show how large her bank balance was.

      He made his decision. He deserved some of that wealth, and he knew how to get it. Emma had already defied him once, telling him she wasn’t going to quit the course whatever he said. Perhaps he’d let her continue with it after all. She would be pliable now, and he could force her to ingratiate herself with her. He couldn’t do it, of course; he wouldn’t lower himself. But she had no say in the matter.

      His smirk became a large grin as he began to count the riches that would soon be coming his way. Enrolling on this course wasn’t turning out to be a bad idea after all.

       Chapter Four

       Week 3 — Ormskirk — Bludgeoning

       Tuesday 4^th October 2011

      I thought about Debbie and Trish constantly over the next week. I also had plenty of time to think about the course itself. I had read the handout from cover to cover, and, although it didn’t shed any more light onto the question of who really killed Enid Rodgers, it intensified my keenness to find out more. I was tempted to go to the reference library and see what details they had about the murder, but I resisted the urge; I felt that I would get more enjoyment by listening to Louise as she revealed the answer.

      I arrived early, with only Debbie there before me. As the clock ticked towards seven first Gail and then Trish arrived, but there was no sign of either Mike or Emma. Louise walked in at just after seven and sat on the edge of the front desk. “I’ve had a phone call this week — or rather the department has had a phone call — complaining about this course.”

      The four of us looked at each other blankly.

      “No, it wasn’t from any of you. It was from Mike, no doubt backed by Emma. Anyway, the end result is that they are no longer in this class.”

      I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Not really wanting to hear the answer, I asked the question anyway: “Does this mean the course is cancelled due to insufficient numbers?”

      “Of course not.” Louise laughed. “They’ve paid for the course — well, she paid the full amount, he only paid the reduced rate — but I’d already made the department aware of his rudeness, and they backed me to the hilt. If he hadn’t decided to quit, I think he might have been asked to leave anyway, although I suppose in that case the class might have had to close. Anyway, that didn’t happen, so let’s crack on. I think the five of us are going to get on just fine together.”

      No sooner had Louise finished speaking than the door opened, and in walked Emma. We all looked at her, agape, but she either ignored us or didn’t seem to notice as she sat down and took out her notepad.

      “I thought you had decided to leave the course,” said Louise, the note of challenge evident in her voice.

      Emma’s response came as a surprise to all of us. “I didn’t, Louise. I know he rang in to complain, but that was nothing to do with me. He said I had to drop out as well, and that’s when I finally decided to stand up for myself.” As she spoke she brought her hand up to her face, then, as if she’d realised what she’d done, she quickly lowered it again. I looked at her eyes, and they were red and puffy underneath the make-up that was attempting to mask the discolouration. Had she been crying? “So here I am…if that’s okay?”

      I wondered if I’d been wrong in my assessment of her. For the first time, I saw a chink in the armour that she had erected around herself; behind it was a small, lonely girl, and I began to sympathise with her. Emma saw me looking at her and she scowled. Almost as soon as it had appeared her vulnerable appearance had left her, and I wondered if I’d been mistaken. But I didn’t think I had been; those few seconds had been enough to show me that Emma was human after all.

      Louise stroked her chin as if deep in thought. After a bare moment’s hesitation, she asked the question that I’m sure was on everybody’s mind. “And what about Mike? Is he likely to turn up as well?”

      “I wouldn’t think so, no.” She hesitated for a second, then continued. “I haven’t seen him since he made that call, and I don’t care if I never see him again.”

      Louise still appeared to be considering matters, and an icy silence covered the room. Finally, she broke it by saying, “All right, then, Emma. Let’s make this a fresh start. Welcome back. I’m sure the group feels the same.”

      “Yes,” we all replied, babbling and talking over each other in our relief that the moment of tension had passed. I’d almost forgotten that just a few moments earlier I had been feeling happy at the prospect of not seeing either of them again.

      Louise opened her briefcase and pulled out some more sets of A4 handouts. As she gave one to each of us, I took a look, expecting to read more about the Enid Rodgers case, but this set of papers was headed Len Phillips, 1922.

      “Aren’t we continuing with last week’s case?” I asked. “We still don’t really know what happened.” Gail and Trish said similar things while Debbie read the sheets she’d been given. Emma glanced at them briefly before looking up to catch Louise’s response.

      “No,” she answered, “that one is finished with now. I want to move on to talk about something that is, on the surface, completely different.”

      “But what about the first case?” asked Trish. “Do you know who really did it?”

      “No, all I have is what you saw last week. As I said, I want to discuss a different case this week.”

      “And does this one have a solution or will we be left in the lurch again?” asked Gail.

      “You’ll have to wait and see. I assure you, it will all make perfect sense by the end of the course — or, at least, it should do. And, just maybe, you might be able to help me fill in a few gaps along the way. Like I said before, although it might not appear so now, I hope that by the end of the course we’ll be in a position to make a life-saving decision. Now, are we ready to start? Debbie? You haven’t said much tonight.”

      “No, I haven’t. I’ve been thinking. But now you’ve asked, I do have one question. Are we always going to be talking about murders?” I thought I detected a note of fear in her voice. Did she find the topic too gruesome to even talk about?

      “Why yes, each week I plan to discuss a different murder that occurred in the county. Didn’t I make that clear?”

      “No,” I said, noting the discomfort on Debbie’s face. “You’ve not been that specific until now.”

      “Oh, I’m sorry. It must have been with all the problems dealing with those two…er, with Mike. It slipped my mind. There isn’t a problem, is there?”

      “Not СКАЧАТЬ