Two Heads.

11-A Lead?

Edmund was waiting outside the University for half an hour the following morning, as he had arrived fifteen minutes early and Hawes drove up fifteen minutes late.

"There was an interesting development in HQ this morning" she told Edmund briskly, striding past without hint of an apology as they both headed up the front steps. "Young Constable called Vernon Eaton. Stayed late last night to work on a case, and came up with a very interesting point this morning. Due to the odd nature of the whole thing, Bone decided he had to call a meeting."

Feeling like he knew where this conversation was headed, and not liking it, Edmund asked politely what exactly had gone on.

"Bluntly, someone's been nicking bodies from graveyards" Hawes informed him, as they stood in an outdoor courtyard near where, Edmund assumed, Yuki's friends were attending a lecture.

"Constable Eaton pointed out that all of the bodies were of younger people, and maybe if they kept tabs on any young people being buried, we might be able to get eyes on them" Hawes carried on, seemingly scrutinising Edmund as she spoke for no apparent reason.

"Oh, did he now?" Edmund snapped, unable to hide his annoyance. He turned away from Hawes and walked a few paces, inspecting the flowerbeds along the sides of the courtyard.

"Constable Eaton is a first class idiot, Detective Sargeant" Hawes called after him. "It was very astute of you to point him in the right direction. And very kind. Not that I particularly approve of the latter."

Edmund smirked, and his mood lifted.

"If he's an idiot, how the hell did he get into Eaton?" he asked Hawes. "The school, I mean?"

Hawes rolled her eyes.

"His father patrons the place. I thought that was obvious, since his surname is Eaton."

"Right" Edmund sighed, feeling a little stupid. "Shall we go and find these friends, then? What were their names?"

"Jess Glover and Harley French" Hawes replied crisply. "Glover seemed particularly upset by the loss of her friend. Do you happen to have a pack of tissues on you? I don't intend to be nice to either of them."

"Well, they did lie to you..." Edmund reasoned, mainly with himself, though, as he wished Hawes would be a little nicer to people from time to time.

Hawes sniffed again, tapping her foot, as the lecture happening inside finished and a trail of students began to filter out past them.

"Miss Glover?" the Detective Inspector called, to a tall, tan, willowy young lady with remarkably frizzy brown hair, laden with a large green backpack. The big brown eyes that turned on Hawes gave Edmund the impression that Jess Glover had been worrying about whether or not this encounter was going to happen.

"Would you be so kind as to wait over there with my sargeant?" Hawes asked curtly, with a face like a stone statue. "I believe there's been some facts you omitted last time you spoke to me."

Jess whimpered a little, looking at her feet, and Hawes guided her at Edmund, who slipped his hand into his pocket to see if he had any tissues. The girl, who mustn't have been more than three years his junior, looked like she was going to break down already.

"I can only apologise for what's to come" he muttered quietly, but that only seemed to make Jess worse. Deciding not to try to comfort her, Edmund neutralised his face and blankly handed the girl a tissue.

"Thanks" she sniffed.

Deciding now wasn't the time for talk, Edmund watched as Hawes waylaid another student who Edmund assumed was Harley French, a boy with dark hair and, Edmund noticed with a little smirk, rather surprised eyebrows. He had a slightly awkward nose, too, not straight but not quite crooked, Edmund saw, as French wrinkled it as a reply to Hawes's question.