Read Online The Devil's Edge by Stephen Booth - Free Book Online Page B

walk.’
    ‘And you heard …?’
    ‘A thump or a crash.’
    ‘Which?’
    ‘A thumping crash. A crashing thump. I don’t know. Both.’
    ‘And what did you do?’
    ‘I looked towards the house. The Barrons’ place, Valley View. That was where the noise seemed to come from.’
    Cooper leaned forward, deliberately pressuring Gamble to come up with an answer. ‘And what did you see?’
    ‘I saw a light on.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘In the kitchen.’
    ‘Was that where the noise came from?’
    ‘It seemed so to me.’
    ‘So you went to investigate.’
    ‘Exactly. Neighbourly concern. Anyone would do the same.’
    ‘And when you investigated, you saw …?’
    ‘I looked through the window and realised there was something wrong.’
    ‘Wait. Before you looked through the window …?’
    ‘I didn’t see anything. No one around. It was dark, though, like I said. There might have been people in the garden, among the trees, watching me. I thought I was quite brave, actually.’
    Cooper had to admit that was true. In those circumstances, Mr Gamble could have been putting himself at risk. He started to feel a bit guilty about questioning him so closely.
    ‘What do you know about the Barrons?’ he said.
    ‘Well, everyone knows they have plenty of money,’ said Gamble, visibly relaxing. ‘Rolling in it, they are. You should see the stuff the children get. Mobile phones, those iPod things. New trainers every week. We have grandchildren, and they don’t get anything like that. It doesn’t make them any less happy. And they’ll grow up knowing the value of money. The Barrons’ kids are just ruined.’
    ‘Was it generally believed that the Barrons had valuable items in the house?’
    ‘Obviously. The builders knew it, the neighbours knew it, anyone coming to the house knew. They never tried to make any secret of how rich they were. Far from it. She told me once how much the taps in their bathroom had cost. It was enough to buy me a new car.’
    ‘I wasn’t really thinking of bath taps. Antiques, maybe. Or a lot of cash in the house?’
    Gamble looked at Cooper thoughtfully, giving him his full attention for the first time.
    ‘Well, if you’re asking me, I’d say yes. People like that don’t make their money by paying income tax, do they? I wouldn’t be surprised to find a cupboard stuffed with cash. And I bet they wouldn’t keep quiet about it, either.’
    ‘What about the Barrons’ neighbours?’
    ‘Well, you’ve got the Hollands on one side, at Fourways. They’re mostly harmless. Spend their time walking and picking flowers, or some such. There’s the Kaye bloke at Moorside. He arrived in the village like the Queen visiting the natives. He’s never spoken to me yet, the stuck-up bugger. I never got inside the gate either.’
    ‘Interesting. And the Chadwicks? They’re nearest to you, but you haven’t mentioned them yet.’
    Gamble’s lips tightened. For once, he seemed to be reluctant to answer.
    ‘Mr Chadwick is a teacher, I believe.’
    Still Gamble was silent. His expression suggested that he was searching his memory for something to say. Something that would give the right impression, perhaps. Finally Mrs Gamble offered some information.
    ‘The Chadwicks are having a party tomorrow night,’ she said. ‘Their daughter has just got her A level results.’
    ‘A stars,’ burst out Gamble. ‘She was screeching about it to her friends on her mobile phone all day long. A stars. They all get A stars these days. It doesn’t mean a thing. In my day, you were lucky to get a few O levels.’
    ‘Well, perhaps not everyone …’
    ‘The bloody Chadwicks think their child is an intellectual and artistic miracle, of course. Gifted at everything. A genius, but perfectly normal at the same time.’
    ‘And Mr Edson at Riddings Lodge?’
    ‘Oh, the lottery winner. We don’t see much of him.’
    ‘Lottery winner?’
    ‘So they say. Won millions on the rollover, he did. Bought Riddings Lodge and some