The woman looked over the two of us before letting go of the dog’s collar and ushering us inside. The dog bounced around our legs, sniffing our knees and whacking every limb and surface with its thick tail. Anna shied back from it a little, but I got down and gave the dog some fuss before he bounded into the next room.
Anna Northwood, she said, coming up to Anna and giving her a hug, then holding her at arm’s length.
You’ve changed more than I expected, she told my sister once she’d broken away. Come into the front room. Tea?
Jane Villiers ushered us through into her living room, which looked like nothing had changed in it in several decades. The furniture was good quality but well worn, with a faded floral pattern on the matching sofa and chairs. The carpet was thick and there was a Persian-style rug in the middle of the floor that looked like the dog had been chewing it. Anna and I settled ourselves on the threadbare sofa, the dog coming and lying by our feet. I leant down and scratched him behind the ears, earning a thump of his tail in response.
So, what brings you to my neck of the woods? Jane asked Anna.
Anna smiled. Paige told me you’d retired, and I got to thinking about my time at school. I wanted to see you and find out how you’re getting on.
And this sudden nostalgia has nothing to do with the murder of my successor?
Anna shuffled awkwardly in her chair, but it was clear that Jane Villiers still had the skills required to get the truth out of people.
We wanted to talk to you about why you left, Anna told her, wincing slightly in case her statement was met with anger, but instead Jane looked sad.
I did wonder if someone might be coming to ask me about that, but I’m surprised it’s not the police. Her eyes darted between the two of us.
The police know you retired in the summer, that’s all, I told her, and she frowned at me. I’m interpreting for the investigation, I clarified, in case she was wondering where I got my information from. Nobody has told the detectives that you left early.
Well. I don’t know whether to be pleased or annoyed about that, she replied. I expect the school has done an awful lot to try and hush it up. I can’t see how it can relate to what happened to that man, or to poor Leon. Have they found him yet?
I shook my head, and her frown deepened.
What actually happened, Jane? Anna probed. A couple of people I know said it was something to do with safeguarding … She trailed off, hoping to prompt Jane into filling in the gaps.
The older woman sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, fixing Anna with a steely gaze. Do you think it has any relevance?
Anna looked at me before she replied. We don’t know. But we thought the police should know about it, in case it did.
Jane nodded. Sensible, especially when there’s a child missing. She took a drink of tea, then looked at us. I’m not proud of how things went, but I can’t say I would do it differently if it happened again.
Anna and I both nodded but didn’t interrupt. Jane was clearly building up to the story and we didn’t want to derail her train of thought.
Near to the end of term in the summer, one of the primary teachers came to me, with a video camera. It was a school camera, one we kept for all teachers and classes to use in lessons. They were stored in the IT classroom where anyone could access them when they needed to. The teacher had taken it to use with her upper primary pupils, but she’d checked to see if there was anything on the memory card before they used it. I’m very glad she did, because when she watched it she discovered footage of two of the older students having sex, late at night in one of the classrooms.
I felt myself inhale sharply. Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn’t that.
Bradley and Courtney? I asked, on instinct, thinking of the secretive signs of affection I’d seen passing between the two of them. Jane nodded.
You’ve met them, I assume? They’re both good kids who had a rough start to their lives. I watched the start of the video, and it was clear that someone set up the camera and left it running for a while before the two of them came in. Her signing was sharp, belying the anger she felt at the memory. When I asked the two of them about it they were genuinely mortified. I pride myself on knowing when any of my students are lying to me, and these two knew nothing about this video. They each said that they’d received an email from the other, saying they should meet in that classroom, yet each denied sending a message. It was a set-up.
Jane’s face twisted. I know I should have informed the governors immediately. Of course I should have. But here were two vulnerable teenagers, underage, who had been manipulated, and then the video left where any of the children could have watched it. I decided that before I took it to the governors I would investigate and see if I could find out who might have done this.
She stood up and paced around behind her chair. You have to understand, I had no way of knowing if it was a staff member or a student. If I went straight to the governors with it, the story would have been out within a day, and whoever was responsible would have known to keep their head down. I wanted the element of surprise, wanted whoever it was to think they could get away with doing things like this. Then, they might become overconfident, and I would be able to catch them at it.
I enlisted Saul’s help, she continued. I had to trust someone, and he was far more able than me to see if there was any, what’s it called … She waved a hand around before fingerspelling the word she was looking for, metadata, that’s what it’s called. Something to help us track down who had planted the camera, and who had emailed Bradley and Courtney to get them to meet there in the first place. I also asked Saul to check for any videos having been uploaded to the internet from any school accounts. I wanted to make sure there weren’t any other copies.
Did he find anything? I asked, tense with anticipation.
Jane shrugged. I don’t think he had a chance to get started before someone went to the governors and I was hauled in for covering up a major safeguarding issue. She came back to her chair and sat down with a sigh. Both the students were under sixteen, and that was their main concern, rather than the fact someone had filmed them on school equipment without their consent, and for who knows what purpose. She flung her hands up as she finished speaking, as if to show the futility of what she had been trying to do.
I was naive, she continued. I thought that I had dealt with the incident in the best way for the students concerned – they were stupid, and whilst they weren’t sixteen they both knew damn well what they were doing, I can tell you. It was the person who filmed them that I was concerned about, but the governors insisted they must have done it themselves. Jane gave us an agonised look. They thought I should have punished them, when they were doing what horny hormonal teenagers have been doing since time began. Really, what would that have achieved?
I had to be honest, she had a point. The idea that someone was sneaking around a school and filming students in compromising positions was horrific, and I understood why she’d wanted to try and track down the culprit on the quiet rather than reprimand Bradley and Courtney.
My mind was whirring, and I could tell that Anna’s was, too. Was there any connection between this and what happened to Leon? Could Leon have been the person who filmed Bradley and Courtney, and if he was, what would they have done if they found out? We hadn’t got to the bottom of the animosity between Bradley and Leon, and this could have been the cause.
So, nobody has told the police about this? Jane asked.
No, this is the first I’ve heard of any of it, I told her, shaking my head.
Well, they’ve done a good job hushing it up. Liz Marcek was always very precious about the school’s reputation. She was horrified at the idea of students having sex on school premises, kept bleating about how the school would be closed. She sighed again. We were hardly the first residential school where something like that had happened. But I shouldn’t be too hard on her, she was grieving for her brother at the time and her behaviour was erratic. She refuse
d to take any time off and wouldn’t talk about it, but rumours were that he’d overdosed.
Jane seemed to have another thought, cocked her head on one side and looked at me. Do the police suspect Leon of having killed his teacher? she asked, a frown on her face.
At the moment they don’t know exactly what happened, I replied, so they’re keeping an open mind. I didn’t want her to start grilling me about the case.
Jane nodded thoughtfully. Well, I can’t imagine that the boy I knew would hurt someone. How was he killed?
Anna and I looked at each other. This wasn’t something I had even discussed with her. He was stabbed, I eventually replied.
Jane grimaced. They’ll think it could be him, because of his history with his father. But it can’t have been Leon.
Why do you say that?
Because I know that boy, and he’s changed. He can control himself, and I know he wouldn’t have done something like that. She slapped a hand down on the arm of her chair. I know Leon. I know all of my students, and just because I was forced out early doesn’t mean I don’t still think about them and have concerns for them.
Could Leon have seen what happened? Jane continued. Could he have witnessed his teacher being killed? she asked me.
I don’t know, I replied, but it is possible. They were in the park at the same time, in roughly the same area, so the police can’t rule it out.
That could explain why he ran away, she replied. If he’s a witness, he will be terrified.
Wouldn’t he want to go to the police and explain what happened? Anna asked.
Not if the person who killed Mr Wilkinson is someone he trusted, Jane reasoned. The school is Leon’s only safe place, and if someone there has shattered that safety, he’ll be scared and won’t know what to do. If he goes to the police, maybe they won’t believe him, then he’ll be sent back to school to spend time with the very person he knows is a murderer.
The atmosphere in the room felt suddenly heavy as Anna and I took in her words. Stunned by this potential angle, I realised something that made my blood run cold – if Leon had seen Steve’s killer, the police weren’t the only ones desperately looking for him.
Chapter 18
As I drove home, my mind was whirring. Anna was almost quivering, and I could tell she desperately wanted to sit down and start going through theories and suspects, but I was dreading it. The last time that had happened, my sister had crossed paths with a murderer and was lucky to still be alive.
I was glad of the icy weather, because it gave me an excuse to drive slowly, and it took us nearly an hour to get home. As soon as we were inside, Anna pulled off her coat and went to get a notebook. I was reminded of the wall of sticky notes she’d gathered after Lexi was killed, the piles of information she’d got from me or other people in the Deaf community.
No, I told her. We can’t do this again.
She rolled her eyes at me. I’m not going to go haring off without you, not this time. I learnt my lesson, okay?
I didn’t believe her, but I knew this wasn’t an argument I was going to win.
Do you think the video of Bradley and Courtney could be connected to Leon disappearing? she asked.
That depends, I replied. If Leon was the one who filmed them, then we have to consider the possibility that Bradley and Courtney found out and were bent on getting revenge. I thought about what I’d seen of the two students so far: they were practically inseparable, and if Bradley was highly protective of his brother it made sense that he’d behave the same way for his girlfriend. He wasn’t fully in control of the aggression that bubbled away under the surface; I’d witnessed that for myself this week.
They couldn’t have kidnapped him, though, Anna pointed out. Where would they put him? If he was still somewhere in the park he would have been found by now, even with the snow.
Unless they were working with someone else? I suggested, but I knew it was far-fetched even as I said it.
How are a couple of teenagers in a residential school going to find someone to help them kidnap another teenager and not leave a trace? Anna asked, rightly sceptical.
Okay, we’ll rule that out, I conceded.
Could one of the teachers have accused Leon of making the video, so he ran away? she suggested.
I let out a long breath, knowing I couldn’t give her too many details about the investigation. It’s possible. That’s something Forest and Singh will be looking into, I’m sure.
We didn’t look at each other for a moment, both absorbing the enormity of this prospect. My phone buzzed, and I couldn’t help smiling when I saw Max’s name on the screen.
Fancy going out for something to eat tonight?
On a school night? I teased.
I just wanted to see you, he replied.
I thought about it before I answered. The last few months had been difficult, negotiating my relationship with Max whilst trying to be there for Anna. There were times when I’d turned him down because I didn’t want to leave her, but she seemed to be doing so much better recently. The thought of seeing Max put me on edge slightly, though. I hadn’t told him about Mike yet, and I knew we really needed to discuss my history, but I didn’t feel ready.
Do you mind if I go out tonight? I asked Anna.
She rolled her eyes. Paige, you’re thirty-one. You don’t need to ask my permission.
I’m not asking permission, I’m asking if you’ll be okay on your own.
I’ll be fine, Anna replied. I’m also an adult, if you hadn’t noticed. Go out. See your boyfriend, she told me. I don’t want to be the one who comes between you.
I replied to Max and he told me he’d pick me up at six.
Why didn’t anyone tell the police about Jane Villiers being thrown out? I asked Anna once I’d made my arrangements for later. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s not the sort of thing you can keep covered up for long, and when they find out they’re bound to think it’s suspicious.
The whole thing makes the school look pretty bad, though, doesn’t it? she reasoned. I don’t blame them for wanting to push anything negative under the carpet and pretend it didn’t happen, when they’re faced with a disappearing student and a murdered teacher.
I wasn’t convinced. But surely they’ll look worse when the police find out they tried to hide it?
Are you going to call Singh to tell him? she asked, but I shook my head.
I’ll see him tomorrow. Maybe by then I will have been able to make some sense of it all.
Max was punctual, as usual. I often teased him about how accurate he was with timings, and he put it down to working in a school and living his life by a strict timetable.
I waited inside the flat until I saw his car pull up outside, but as I watched I noticed a fancy sports car sitting a few metres down the road. Was it the same one I’d seen outside the school? They were the same model and colour. When I left the building I pulled the door closed firmly behind me, then tried to look up the road to see if anyone was in the car, but it was already too dark.
So, where are we going? I asked Max as I got in, trying to put my worries about the other car to the back of my mind.
Fancy going down to Lincoln?
Sure, I replied, not telling him that I was already sick of the A15 and the drive to the School for the Deaf.
On the way, he told me about his day and a couple of the kids he was supporting. He was passionate about his job, and it always shone through in the way he talked about the pupils he worked with. They’d had a new child start in the school’s nursery and he was obviously loving working with her.
‘This little girl has barely signed three words all term,’ he was saying. ‘Her parents are hearing and they say they’re learning to sign but the teacher of the deaf thinks they’re only really doing it when she visits, not using it on a daily basis with the child. Anyway, suddenly she signed this story to me! I’d told her the story a few times, last week and this week, and she pointed to the book and signed the story! It was basic, b
ut she used so many more signs than I’ve seen her use before.’
He was beaming with pride, and I couldn’t help but smile at him. He doted on his little niece, Kasey, and I caught myself thinking he’d be a great dad. As soon as the thought passed through my mind I stared forward out of the windscreen and tried to hide my embarrassment, as if Max would somehow be able to read my thoughts. I liked him a lot, but there was no way I wanted to think about anything more serious than the level of dating we were currently at. Not yet, anyway.
We parked near the Bail in Lincoln and Max steered me towards a little Mexican restaurant tucked away around the back. I’d never been to it before, and it was nice to be exploring new places with him.
Why the mid-week meal? I asked once we had some nachos in front of us.
Am I not allowed to ask to see you during the week?
I laughed. Of course you are, but I know you get up early for work.
He shrugged. You told me that you and Anna had plans at the weekend, so I thought I’d try and see you a bit more during the week, then you can spend Saturday and Sunday with her. I know the last few months have been difficult for her.
I’d almost forgotten that Anna and I had planned to go up to York for the Christmas market at the weekend. If the case was solved by then it would be a great day out, but I got the feeling I might end up working every day until it was.
I told him about Anna’s enthusiasm for her new job, and he agreed it was a positive sign, but then gave me a serious look.
I worry that you’re not completely over what happened at the start of the year, though. It feels like you’ve thrown yourself into supporting Anna, without taking into account the trauma you suffered as well.
I shook my head. I’m fine, honestly.
Maybe, but is it really wise you getting involved in another police investigation?
I could see the concern in his eyes, but I found myself getting a bit annoyed.
Silent Night Page 14