Cruel Minds by Malcolm Richards

time to see Sam stumble backwards, dragging Ben with him.
    “Get the hell off me!” Ben’s fists swung wildly, but Sam’s hands were like iron clamps across his chest.
    On the ground, Daniel rolled over onto his hands and knees.
    “This is a place of peace! How dare you show such disrespect!” Pamela’s voice was like thunder rolling over the house. Sam released his grip on Ben, who slumped to the grass, puffing and panting. “What is going on here?”
    “I don’t take too kindly to being called a wop,” Daniel said, then spat blood onto the grass.
    Eyes fell on Ben. Beside him, Sylvia wrapped her arms around her ribcage. “Ben was only voicing his opinion. He has every right—it’s a free country, you know! You shouldn’t have got him angry.”
    “Ben was saying some not very nice things about Oscar. He thinks he’s selfish,” Janelle explained. “Like the rest of us, Daniel took offence.”
    “Anybody who’s going to do something like that hasn’t got a thought for anyone else. They don’t give a shit about the pain it will cause,” Ben said, climbing to his feet. His lower lip was purple and already swelling.
    “I hardly think when someone decides to take their own life they’re thinking rationally enough to act selfishly or unselfishly,” Janelle replied. “And fighting like children about it isn’t helping anyone. All you’ve done is make a terrible situation that much worse.”
    “I agree. Violence helps no one,” Pamela said. Her eyes moved from the crowd to Marcia and Melody, who were huddled together in the doorway. “What did the police say?”
    “What did the police say about what?” Sam asked. “What have I missed?”
    He moved up beside Marcia and, in a move that abandoned any professional standards in front of the guests, slung a comforting arm around her shoulder.
    “Oscar is dead. He hanged himself.” Pamela said through tight lips. “The police, Marcia—are they on their way?”
    Fresh tears spilled down Marcia’s face. “I can’t get hold of them.”
    “Surely someone must be manning the station.”
    “No, that’s not what I mean. The phone isn’t working. There’s no dial tone.”
    Confused, Pamela shook her head. “But I just took a booking this morning.”
    There was a long pause before Marcia spoke again, and it was obvious to Emily that she was gearing up to deliver more bad news. “There’s something else. Someone’s broken into the office. They’ve taken everything. Phones, tablets, even the car keys.”
    “What are you talking about?” Pamela looked from one shocked face to the other, then back at her daughter.
    “This is just fucking wonderful!” Ben said, his fat lip making him lisp. Still kneeling on the ground, Daniel glared at him.
    “It’s true,” Melody said. “We went to make the call and found the cupboard door open.”
    Deep lines grew like fissures across Pamela’s face. Muttering to herself, she pushed open the garden gate and marched towards the house. The group followed her into the office. Stood at the back, Emily strained to see between the bodies. She caught a glimpse of the cabinet where Pamela had secured the guests’ belongings. The door was hanging from just one hinge.
    “You know what this means, don’t you?” Sylvia said, her voice somewhere between anger and hysteria. “We’re bloody stuck here! Who had access to this office? Don’t you keep it locked?”
    Nervous voices filled the room, followed by suspicious glances. Emily’s mind raced. First, Oscar’s death, now a robbery. What exactly was happening here? She looked at Jerome, whose expression was somewhere between shocked and confused.
    For a moment, Pamela was stunned. When she spoke, her words tripped over themselves. “No, I—I don’t. We’re in the middle of the forest. No one comes out this way.”
    “So you’re saying it’s one of us?” Sylvia replied. Her head turned to the other guests. “Go on, which one of you was it?”
    “Now just