‘Of course.’
Thomas paused. ‘Sorry if I came in with all guns blazing a bit.’
‘You hid it very well. And very sheriff-like,’ commended his father teasingly, drawing the first smile his son had managed since his arrival. ‘Speaking of which, where’s your new deputy?’
‘At the cottage. I’ll give Miss Cadabra a call later. See if she’d fancy the shooting gallery at the arcade!’
Thomas chuckled, tipped his imaginary Stetson and took himself off, leaving his father to indulge in a hearty bout of laughter.
Chapter 30
Chief Inspector Hogarth Interviews: Marielle and Zoe
The beach escapade forgotten, Amanda and Trelawney again speculated, in the car on the way to Hogarth’s, as to which of the Lucy family might be the slayer of Mordren Dowrkampyer. Eventually, the evening got round to pudding and tea, and a resumption of the story.
‘Well, I couldn't let it go at that,’ said Hogarth. ‘I couldn’t just accept that little Zoe or Elodie, Peter, Marielle or Geoffrey was a killer. I had to know what was going on around them when it happened. And I had to know which one of them felt they were responsible. I asked if, in order to get a clearer picture of what went on that night, I could interview them separately.’
‘How would you know when you interviewed one, whether the others were there or not?’ asked Trelawney.
‘I had to take that on trust. Anyway, they agreed.’
***
‘We do understand,’ Peter responded, ‘that there was a very great deal going that night, and the, er, interaction we had with the students and Mordren Dowrkampyer was only a part of it. We do want to help you, so of course, it’s fine. Who would you like first?’
‘I’ll go first,’ volunteered Marielle.
‘Right, we’ll all clear off,’ said Peter.
Marielle drew her legs up beside her and wriggled her shoulders into the cushions.
‘This too informal for you? We can do it at the kitchen table, you know,’ she offered suggestively.
Hogarth’s lips twitched. ‘This will be fine, thank you, Marielle.’
‘You can call me Miss Penlowr, if it helps ... Chief Inspector.’
He laughed. ‘Marielle and Michael will be fine.’
‘Ok, fire away.’
‘You woke up. Do you recall why?’
‘Elodie woke me. She was often wakeful in the night. She felt something was wrong. But then we heard the sounds, like voices and like crackles, and then there was a bang. And the room was weirdly warm for that time of year.
‘We got dressed quickly and then went out into the hall. That’s when we smelled the smoke and saw the stairs above were on fire. We got the kids — the other students — up and dressed and on the stairs. We could hear shouts and sorta bangs, and we could see these little coloured flashes below, if you know what I mean?’
‘Ok.’
‘The landing was clear, so Elodie told the kids to stay put while we checked the main hall. Well, it was all going on there. People with sticks or batons — wands we realised later — and it was like when you strike a match, and it flares? It was like that coming out of the wands.’
‘Did you recognise anyone, Marielle?’
‘Just Mordren, and one other guy, Frongar.’ She shuddered. ‘One of the Dowrkampyer sons. He was there, and then he went out the side door, and the fighting went outside. We went down onto the final flight of stairs. We were just about to call the kids down when Mordren himself came out of the room on the landing between the stairs we were on and the flight above where the kids were waiting.’
‘Did you get a glimpse into Mordren’s room? Was there anyone there?’
‘I didn’t, but Shilpa said it looked well trashed and she thought she saw someone on the floor.’
‘Then what happened?’
‘I don’t know exactly. He looked up at some flames. I remember a noise on the stairs behind us and in the hall, but I daren’t take my eyes off Mordren. There was movement and a flash out the corner of my eye but ....’
‘What happened next?’
‘Well, he looked down the stairs past us and then saw the kids, and his face goes all sorta cold. You know how people talk about a murderous rage? Well, this was like a blue flame — cold fire — but the intention was the same. And in case I was in any doubt, he points his wand thing at the kids and says something like,
“Sorry guys, school’s out.”
‘But even before he said it, I knew what he was going to do. I looked around for something to chuck at him — anything — and there it was: a wand lying on the stairs behind. All I had to do was just reach down, grab it and do what I’d seen the fighters doing: aim it. And the next thing was the big firework, and bye-bye Mordren.’
‘Did you intend to kill him, Marielle?’
‘I wanted to stop him. And yes, at any cost,’ she replied defiantly.
‘Did you know what the wand would do?’
‘No. I’d never seen one before in real life apart from maybe in the lab. I didn't know what it was. But I’d seen what the guys fighting had done with theirs. Just aim and, I dunno, want it, I suppose.’
‘And what did you want?’
‘I told you. I wanted to stop him. And I did. I had to protect the others, especially Zoe and Elodie. Besides that, we had to get the kids out. And we did.’ Marielle raised her chin. ‘And yes, Michael, if I had it to do again, I’d do the same thing. Remorse Central this ain’t.’
Hogarth defused the tension by moving on.
‘And then?’
‘We made a run for it out of the side entrance. I heard someone
