Waiting for Wednesday

was
unchanged. Anne Beste listened intently with a frown of concentration and occasionally
looked sideways at her client. They never spoke.
    When he had finished, Karlsson closed the
file quietly. ‘Can you give me some innocent explanation for the traces you seem
to have left at the scene of the murder?’ Russell Lennox shrugged. ‘Sorry,
you have to say something. For the benefit of the machine.’
    ‘Do I have to explain it?’ said
Lennox. ‘I thought you had to make the case against me.’
    ‘I think we’re doing that pretty
well,’ said Karlsson. ‘One more question: have you any evidence about your
whereabouts on the day of the murder?’
    ‘No,’ said Lennox.
‘I’ve told you already.’
    ‘Yes, you have.’ Karlsson paused
for a moment. Then, when he spoke, it was in a calm, almost soothing tone. ‘Look,
Mr Lennox, I know what you’ve been through, but haven’t you put your family
through enough? Your children need to put this behind them and move on.’
    Lennox didn’t speak, just stared at
the table.
    ‘All right,’ said Karlsson.
‘Let me tell you – both of you – what is going to happen. We’re going to
leave the room now, Mr Lennox, and give you five minutes to discuss various issues with
your solicitor. Then I’m going to come back into this room and you will be charged
with the murder of Zachary Greene. I need to caution you clearly that you don’t
have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention now something
that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. But what
I’d really like to say to you is we all, but especially you, and even more
especially your family, need to lay this to rest.’
    When they were outside, Karlsson looked at
Yvette and smiled grimly.
    ‘Does it matter what he says?’
she asked.
    ‘It’ll go a bit more quickly if
he confesses,’ said Karlsson. ‘But it’s not that big a
deal.’
    ‘Can I get you a coffee?’
    ‘Let’s just wait.’
    After a couple of awkward minutes, Karlsson
looked at his watch, then knocked on the door and stepped inside. Anne Beste held up her
hand.
    ‘We need more time.’
    Karlsson stepped back outside and closed the
door. ‘What the hell’s that about?’ Had something gone wrong? Could
they have made some mistake?
    It was more like ten minutes when they were
both back in the room. Anne Beste was briskly tapping the surface of the table with the
fingers of her left hand. She glanced at Lennox and he gave the smallest of nods.
    ‘Mr Lennox is willing to admit to the
manslaughter of Zachary Greene.’
    Karlsson looked at Lennox. ‘What
happened?’ he asked.
    ‘I went to see him,’ said
Lennox. ‘After Judith told me. I had to. I was desperate. I was just going to talk
to him, but we started arguing and I lost control. And then he was dead.’
    Karlsson sighed. ‘You fucking idiot.
Do you realize what you’ve done?’
    Lennox barely seemed to hear him.
‘What about the children?’ he said.
    Yvette started to say something, but
Karlsson stopped her with a look.
    ‘Do you know where they are?’
Karlsson asked.
    Lennox leaned back in his chair. His face
was dark with misery. ‘They’re all staying in that therapist woman’s
house.’
    ‘With Frieda?’ said Karlsson.
‘What are they doing there?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Mr Lennox,’ said Yvette.
‘You do understand, don’t you, that this isn’t over?’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘There have been two murders – Zach
Greene’s, to which you’ve confessed.’
    ‘Manslaughter,’ put in Anne
Beste.
    ‘And your wife’s.’
    Lennox lifted his eyes to her, then dropped
them.
    ‘My client has co-operated and now he
has nothing further to say,’ said Anne Beste.
    Karlsson rose. ‘We’ll talk again
tomorrow. As my colleague here says, this isn’t over, Mr Lennox.’



FIFTY-TWO
    Frieda opened her door to find Karlsson,
Yvette and a woman she didn’t recognize outside. The woman forced her way inside.
Ted and Judith, Dora and Chloë were sitting around the table in the living room, with
mugs and plates and phones and a laptop.
    ‘Oh, my darlings, my poor, poor
darlings,’ said Louise. The three Lennoxes shrank from her, but she didn’t
seem to notice. Chloë put a hand on Ted’s shoulder.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Frieda
asked Karlsson, who murmured a quick explanation to her. When she heard, she looked
round at the young people. Her face became stern.
    ‘We want to stay here.’