Evil Star

but of course it would be weeks before any action was taken.
    The house wasn't empty. That much they knew. They had occasionally seen the owner, Gwenda Davis, pacing back and forth inside. Once — more than a week ago — she had been seen scurrying home from the shops. And every evening the television was turned on. '.
    Gwenda Davis was well known on the street. She had lived there for much of her adult life, first on her own and then with her boyfriend, Brian Conran, who had worked occasionally as a milkman. But what had really set the neighbors talking was the time, six years ago, when she had inexplicably adopted an eight-year-old boy and brought him home to live with her. Everyone agreed that she and Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star Brian were not exactly ideal parents. He drank. The two of them argued. And, according to local gossip, they hardly knew the boy whose own parents had died in a car accident.
    Nobody was very surprised when the whole thing went wrong. It wasn't really the boy's fault. Matthew Freeman had been nice enough when he arrived, but a bit of time spent with Gwenda and Brian had soon had an effect. He had started missing school. He'd been hanging out with the wrong crowd, known for a whole range of petty crimes. Inevitably he had gotten into trouble with the police.
    Dur-ing a robbery at a local warehouse, just around the corner from Ipswich Station, a security guard had nearly died, and Matthew had been dragged out with blood on his hands. As punishment, he'd been sent away on some sort of foster-ing program. He had a new foster mother, somewhere in Yorkshire. And good riddance to bad rubbish.
    That was the general view.
    All this had happened three months ago. Since then, Gwenda had gradually disappeared from sight. And as for Brian, no one had seen him for weeks. The house was silent and neglected. Everyone agreed that soon something would have to be done.
    And now it was half past seven in the first week of June. The days were stretching out, holding on for as long as they could. The people in Eastfield Terrace were hot and tired. Tempers were getting short.
    And the smell was as bad as ever.
    Gwenda was in the kitchen, making supper for herself. She had never been a very attractive woman, small and dowdy with dull eyes and pinched lips that never smiled. But in the weeks since Matt's departure, she had rapidly declined. Her hair was unbrushed and wild. She was wear-ing a shapeless flowery dress and a cardigan which, like her, hadn't been washed for some time. She had Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star developed a nervous twitch and was constantly rubbing her arms as if she were cold or perhaps afraid of something.
    "Do you want anything?" she called out in a thin, high-pitched voice.
    Brian was waiting for her in the sitting room, but she knew he wouldn't eat anything. She had preferred it when he'd had his job down at the milk depot, but he'd been sacked after he'd gotten into a fight with one of the manag-ers. That had happened just after Matt had been sent away. Now he'd lost his appetite, too.
    Gwenda looked at her watch. It was almost time for Big Wheel, her favorite television program of the week. In fact, thanks to cable, she could see Big Wheel every night. But Thursdays were special. On Thursday, there was a brand-new program — not a repeat.
    Gwenda was addicted to Big Wheel. She loved the bright lights of the studio, the mystery prizes, the contestants who might win a million pounds if they got enough questions right and dared to spin the wheel. Best of all, she loved the host — Rex McKenna — with his permanent suntan, his jokes, his perfect white smile. Rex was about fifty years old, but his hair was still jet-black, his eyes still glimmered, and there was a spring in his step that made him seem much younger. He had been on the show for as long as Gwenda could remember, and although he hosted two other quiz programs as well as a dancing competition on the BBC, it was on Big Wheel that Gwenda liked him best.
    "Is it on yet?" she called out from the kitchen.
    There was no reply from Brian. He hadn't been talking very much lately, either.
    She reached into a cupboard and took out a can of beans. It wasn't exactly what you'd call a feast, but it'd been a while since either of Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star them had earned any money, and she was beginning to feel the pinch. She looked around the kitchen for a clean plate but