Page 41 of Maybe Tomorrow

Anthony wished his mum was here. She would look after him. She would know exactly what to do and what was happening. Actually, he’d prefer Leo was here. He seemed to know more about things than his mum. He had a better way of looking at things that calmed him down.

The door opened and made him jump. He quickly wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his jumper and looked up at the men who entered.

‘You need to sit at the other side of the table,’ one of them said.

‘Sorry?’

‘We sit at this side. You sit at the other side.’

‘Oh. I’m sorry. I… I didn’t know.’

Anthony eased himself up out of the chair. He towered over the policemen but felt intimidated by them. They stood back and he walked slowly to the correct side of the table. He pulled out a chair and sat down. He looked at the man who’d spoken to him and smiled.

‘Anthony, I’m Detective Inspector Henry Bishop,’ he began, slapping a file down on the table, and sat opposite Anthony. ‘I’m leading the investigation into the murder of Alice Patterson. This is Detective Sergeant Stephen Osborne and Detective Constable Edward Ritter. We’d like to ask you some questions.’

‘OK,’ Anthony said.

Bishop allowed the silence to grow, and watched as Anthony’s gaze flitted between all three men before landing back on him.

‘How did you know Alice Patterson?’

‘She comes into the library where I work.’

‘How often did she come in?’

‘Every Monday. Sometimes at the weekends as well.’

‘Did you like her?’

He looked up and smiled. ‘Yes.’

‘Why?’

‘Sorry?’

‘Why did you like her?’

‘She was nice.’

‘Nice?’

‘She was kind.’

‘In what way kind?’

‘Sorry?’

‘In what way was she kind?’

‘I… I don’t know. She smiled a lot.’

‘What was she smiling at?’

‘I don’t know. I told her jokes.’

‘Do you tell other people who come into the library jokes?’

Anthony looked at the other two detectives standing by the door, then back to DI Bishop.