‘I’m sure of it. The last time anyone saw her was at Davina’s party and she was still there when everyone left, so we only have Davina’s word that she left at all. I think she and her coven led Layla down to the tomb.’
‘God, that’s horrible. But if they really thought she was a Fury, wouldn’t they be worried she would attack them?’
‘I don’t want to worry you, A, but half a dozen fanged-up vampires swarming all over you, I don’t think you’d stand much of a chance.’
April shivered. Caro was right, she’d seen how terrible one vampire could be with Marcus. If they decided to gang up on you, it’d be over before you could utter a sound.
‘But Milo died weeks ago,’ said April. ‘Why did they wait so long?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Caro. ‘But I do know one thing: I will get even with that monster if it’s the last thing I do.’
Layla’s funeral was short and sweet: it had to be. The platitudes usually wheeled out at a young person’s funeral: ‘she had everything before her’, ‘she was cut down in her prime’, didn’t really work when someone had taken their own life. Suicide was the official line the coroner was taking, at least until the inquest was resolved, and that wouldn’t be for months. April hadn’t really felt good about attending, seeing as she and Layla hadn’t been friends, let alone close, but Caro had wanted her there. She was in bits, weeping steadily during the service and sobbing at the graveside. April was going through her own pain, especially when she saw Layla’s parents and cousins who were all grey with grief. She couldn’t help agreeing with Caro: if she hadn’t come to Highgate with her birthmark and deadly virus, Layla might well still be alive. Whatever Miss Holden said, that did lay some responsibility at her door.
I have to put a stop to this – and right now, before anyone else gets hurt
, she thought angrily as they filed out of the cemetery gates.
In many ways the wake, held at Layla’s family home, was even worse. April and Caro had to endure Davina, Chessy and the rest of the Faces squeezing out their crocodile tears and treating the whole thing as one big monochrome catwalk. At least Gabriel hadn’t come. It was a small relief not to have to worry about how she was supposed to act around him.
‘You look how I feel,’ said Benjamin. Caro had gone to repair her smeared make-up, so April had come through to the kitchen to find a bit of space. She had been staring through the kitchen window at the frozen lawns beyond, wishing she could just open the back door and run away.
‘That bad, huh?’ she said.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Ben. ‘Whatever my sister thinks, I think you’re supposed to look unhappy at a funeral.’
‘It’s just …’ began April, but Benjamin just stepped over and squeezed her arm.
‘April, I know,’ he said kindly. ‘You don’t have to explain. It can’t be much fun coming to any funeral so soon after your dad’s.’
She nodded. ‘It doesn’t make it easier. I mean, I’m the one who found her. I was only there to visit my dad’s tomb, but people are looking at me like it’s …’
‘… like it’s your fault?’ he finished. ‘Don’t be silly, April. I think everyone’s glad you did. No one likes to think of her, well, being up there any longer than she was. God knows Layla had her faults, but no one deserves to go out like that,’ he said with feeling. ‘It’s not right to be alone like that.’
April was surprised by the passion of Ben’s words. Did he know something? Was he saying he disapproved of the way the Suckers had murdered Layla? Was he trying to say he hadn’t had anything to do with it? But of course that was stupid; that would imply that Ben knew that April knew that he was a vampire …
Arrrgh!
she thought,
this is all so complicated!
It was like juggling a hundred balls at once.
‘Listen, I’d better go and check Davina’s not trying to seduce someone’s unsuspecting uncle or something,’ said Ben. ‘I’ll come and see Caro before I go, okay?’
April poured herself a glass of water and wondered about finding Caro herself.
It’s not all about you today, April
, she reprimanded herself. She should be there for Caro, she was the one really suffering.
‘Were you a friend of Layla’s, my dear?’ asked an elderly woman shuffling into the kitchen with the aid of a stick.
‘Well, yes … I suppose …’ stammered April. ‘I only joined the school last term, so I didn’t know Layla that well.’
The woman offered a slim hand.
‘I’m Grace, Layla’s grandmother.’
April tried not to let her dismay show. The last thing she
needed right now was any more grieving relatives.
‘So I suppose you didn’t know her other friend, the boy called Milo?’
April shook her head slightly.
‘I met him once, but not really.’
‘I can be candid with you, then,’ said the old woman in a conspiratorial whisper. ‘I never really liked him. He was so arrogant and preening. He was always very charming, of course, but there was something unpleasant just below the surface, if that makes any sense? I didn’t mourn his passing, let me put it this way.’
April smiled politely, not sure what to say.
‘But Layla took it very badly,’ said the woman, almost to herself. ‘When he was in hospital, it was as if she was ill too. Whatever he had, it ate away at her. I forgot how strong love can be at that age. I think adults assume you teenagers are just playing at love, but for Layla it was real. Too real, I think.’
Oh Christ
, thought April.
Now I have to feel bad for breaking her heart as well as killing her
.
The old woman was examining April’s face.
‘You’re the girl who was injured at the Osbournes’ party, aren’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘I hear you lost your father, too. I’m sorry.’
‘Thank you,’ said April quietly. The woman reached over and squeezed April’s hand. ‘I understand,’ she said. ‘I’ve been doing the same thing, looking around to find some reason, some explanation for what’s happened. Nothing makes sense, does it?’
‘No. Not really.’
‘I don’t have any answers for you, I’m afraid. Even at my age, when everyone seems to be dying.’ The woman reached up and began fingering a silver cross hanging around her neck.
‘I turn it over and over in my mind, but there doesn’t seem to be any logic. The doctors still have no idea what killed Milo and in the end, it’s not important. It was a terrible piece of bad luck, that’s all. The problem is that we’re all interconnected
and you can never know how something so horrible is going to affect you. It hit Layla harder than she thought. Young love is too strong when it can make something beautiful turn black.’
The woman stood up and patted April’s hand.
‘If you’ll take my advice, just let it go.’
‘Let what go?’
‘Trying to work out what happened to your dad. I know you think it will help if the police catch whoever killed him, but I’m not sure it will. He’ll still be gone. I think the best you can do is try to remember all the things we have to be grateful for and be happy you had all that time together.’
April nodded sadly. She looked up at the woman, her eyes pleading.
‘I’m sorry about Layla,’ she said. ‘I really am.’
Grace frowned.
‘Don’t be. It’s not your fault. We have enough to deal with without adding guilt to the list. There was nothing you could have done.’
If only you knew
, thought April.
‘Maybe not, I just wish I …’
The woman shook her head.
‘Wishing’s not going to make a difference. We have to do things now. It’s time to move on.’
April was left wondering if the woman had known more than she had been saying.
April knew something was wrong the moment she opened the front door. Laughter echoed down the corridor from the kitchen; her mother and a man, she thought.
Please, not Sheldon again
, she thought as she hung up her coat and walked down the hall.
‘Oh darling, there you are,’ said Silvia, her cheeks still flushed. ‘Dr Tame came by to see you.’
The psychologist was sitting at the breakfast bar, a mug of tea in front of him. He waved at her.
‘Nothing to worry about, just a few informal questions. Thought you might be more relaxed at home rather than at school or in my office.’
‘Mum, I’ve just got back from a funeral,’ she hissed.
‘Oh don’t be silly, darling. The doctor only wants to ask a few quick questions. How was it, by the way?’
‘Lovely,’ she said sarcastically.
‘Well that’s fine then, isn’t it?’ said Silvia. ‘I’ll leave you two alone, shall I?’
The doctor shot her a ‘thanks for understanding’ type look.
April’s mother squeezed her shoulders. ‘Be good,’ she whispered in April’s ear. ‘He’s quite dishy, isn’t he?’
April rolled her eyes.
No
, she thought.
He’s creepy
. And why do adults insist on using that old-fashioned language? ‘Dishy’, ‘Hunky’, ‘the tops’. It was about time someone told them how ridiculous they sounded. Sighing, she sat down opposite Dr Tame, feeling his eyes on her.
‘My mother’s just the same,’ said Dr Tame, his smile tight. ‘Means well, but she can be so embarrassing.’
April smiled politely.
Don’t think you can get more out of me by pretending to be my friend
, she thought. The doctor chuckled.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Force of habit. You’re too smart to be taken in by my little tricks, aren’t you, April?’
‘What?’ said April, unsettled. Was he reading her mind?
‘So how was the funeral?’
‘Okay, I suppose. They kept it short.’
‘Yes, that’s usual with a suicide. Difficult for everyone, isn’t it?’
April shrugged. She had no intention of playing his little mind games.
Tame looked at her, his fingers steepled.
‘Okay, April, let’s stop pretending. You’re a clever girl, and you know I’m a psychologist. A head-shrinker, like one of those fake psychics off the telly. But I can tell you’re sharp – that’s no trick, it’s just the truth. I’ve spoken to most of your friends and they’re not exactly Einsteins, are they? Davina, Chessy, Sara. They may be attending a posh school but I suspect that’s got more to do with Daddy’s bank account than their brains. And then there’s Caro Jackson …’
April looked up at him. ‘What about her?’
‘Well, Caro’s intelligent of course, but she thinks everything is a conspiracy, doesn’t she? Whereas you, April,’ he said, pointing a finger at her, ‘you know there’s more to it than that, don’t you?’
‘Do I?’
He nodded confidently.
‘Yes, and that’s why I’m here. I think you know a great deal more about what’s going on at Ravenwood than you’re saying. It’s my job to find that out.’
‘I thought that was the police’s job.’
‘Oh, I
am
the police. I am here on the highest authority and let me tell you, the powers-that-be are very concerned by the body count in this area and they don’t want the situation to get out of control.’
‘Situation? Is that what you call a serial killer?’
‘You think it’s a serial killer at work?’
‘Three murders. All have the same cause of death, all close to each other. I’ve seen enough cop shows to guess there’s a link.’
Tame grinned.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘I was right about you and DI Reece,’ he said. ‘Only Reece can have told you they all had the same cause of death. The Inspector’s been a naughty boy, giving you privileged information like that.’
‘Perhaps he thought that I might need more information, given that my father was murdered and someone tried to kill me too.’
‘Ah yes, the Marcus Brent episode. So do you think he’s the serial killer?’
‘I don’t know. He was certainly mad enough.’
The doctor nodded.
‘But why didn’t he kill you?’
‘I think he was trying, don’t you?’
‘Hmm … maybe.’
‘Maybe?’ she repeated. ‘Do you want to see the scars?’
‘No, I meant the serial killer theory. It’s nonsense.’
‘What?’ said April, startled. ‘Why?’
‘Serial killers always do things the same way. They have very strong patterns. I won’t bore you with the technical jargon, but you can take my word for it. Now that doesn’t mean there’s not a killer at work – clearly there is. But they don’t quite fit the profile for a serial killer.’
April frowned. Was this the message Miss Holden was trying to get across with her talk of Jack the Ripper?
‘So you’re telling me there’s a whole host of killers on the loose?’ she asked.
‘Again, maybe,’ said Tame. ‘But then where does Layla fit in?’
‘You just said Layla committed sucide.’
‘But that’s not what
you
think, is it?’ said Tame, stabbing his finger at her again. ‘You think there was foul play involved in Layla’s case too, don’t you? Well, let’s assume you’re right
for a moment, why didn’t the murderer kill her in the same way? Why force her into a noose?’