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“Best to do what they say,” Dan said.
Stephen gave a heavy sigh and threw himself down in a leather armchair.
Barbara and Nicholls lowered themselves on to the sofa, Dan perched on a higher occasional chair. Stephen slouched further into the armchair, radiating sullen teenage “don’t care” attitude. It was a little odd, Barbara thought. He had just lost a friend. He was off school on compassionate leave. Yet he didn’t seem upset, or grief-stricken. Just put out.
On the other hand, people reacted to death in different ways. Especially sudden, violent death. It wasn’t something you could ever prepare for. She wasn’t going to hold his behavior against him. Not right now, anyway.
“So,” she said. “I’ve read your statement, Stephen, but I’d just like you to talk me through that night again.”
“Seriously?”
She smiled. “Seriously.”
Another sigh. “We agreed to meet up at the cabin like normal.”
Barbara nodded. “What time?”
“Around sevenish.”
“And when you got to the cabin what did you do?”
“Drank beer, smoked a few joints.”
“That all?”
“Yeah.”
“You left at nine?”
He wasn’t about to be caught out. “No, earlier. It was around nine when Marcus realized he’d left his phone, and we were halfway home by then.”
“And when Marcus left, you and Jacob walked back home?”
“Yeah.”
“How long did that take?”
A shrug. “For me, about fifteen, twenty minutes. Jacob had to walk farther.”
“And your parents said you were back home by 10 p.m.?”
“That’s right,” Dan said.
Barbara nodded. “So, what were you doing?”
“What?”
“Well, if you left Marcus at 9 p.m. and it took you twenty minutes to walk home, you should have been back by nine thirty at the latest. But your dad here says you got back around ten, so what were you doing?”
“I dunno,” Stephen said now. “Maybe we waited for Marcus for a bit. Maybe he left later. I mean, I’m not sure about the exact times.”
“Why are you asking all this?” Dan interrupted, sounding annoyed now. “The boys didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No one is saying they did,” Nicholls said calmly. “But Detective Atkins has to ask, okay?”
“Not really,” Dan muttered.
“How do you feel about the Colony, Stephen?” Barbara asked.
