‘Nope, she seems very open to you, I mean us, guv.’
She cast him a look.
‘Amenable,’ he said. ‘That’s the word I was looking for.’
Kim knew Bryant was being deliberately smart to ease the tension that had been building since they’d left the morgue. Bad enough that Keats’s findings had marked indelibly on their brains a graphic picture of the young boy’s terrifying, horrific death but add in the obstacle of investigating two murders around a functioning school and their day so far had not been a positive one.
They arrived at Joanna’s classroom as the bell signalled the end of the second lesson.
The two of them stood aside as a stream of younger children filed out, chatting and laughing.
Joanna’s eyes lit up when she saw them.
‘Inspector, nice to see you again,’ she smiled.
Kim nodded her acknowledgment.
‘You taught Shaun Coffee-Todd?’
She nodded as a shadow fell across her face and her eyes instantly reddened. ‘Of course,’ she said, wiping away the words on a blackboard.
‘Can you tell us what he was like?’ Kim asked, gently, giving Joanna a moment to collect herself.
‘Very pleasant lad. Well-mannered. Keen to learn. Not that keen to be called upon. He was intelligent and—’
‘Did he have any enemies that you know of?’ Kim asked, feeling ridiculous that she was asking that about a fourteen-year-old boy.
Joanna shook her head as she turned towards them. ‘Not that I know of. I never saw any particular issue with anyone, and why would you even ask that?’
‘We have to,’ Kim said, realising that word of his murder had not yet reached her.
‘What I’m surprised about is that he didn’t have his pen. Shaun was well aware of his condition, as were we all, and he managed it excellently, only ever eating the foods prepared for him or sent in by his parents and checked—’
‘Joanna, it wasn’t an accident,’ Kim said.
‘Wh-what?’ she asked, dropping to the chair.
‘It was deliberate. We know that it wasn’t accidental.’
‘You’re sure?’ she asked, clearly praying for some kind of mistake.
Kim decided to spare Joanna the details of the nuts being forced into his system.
‘We’re sure,’ she said and left it at that.
Joanna shook her head as though unable to accept the facts.
‘First Sadie and now Shaun. It’s just not—’
‘Was there any tie to Sadie at all?’ Kim asked.
Joanna shook her head. ‘Not that I know of.’
‘What do you know about these secret clubs, the cards?’ Kim asked.
After Anthony Coffee-Todd’s admission that his son had been a Spade she had to consider there was some kind of link, even though Sadie’s only tie to the groups was her sister. A quick call to Dawson had confirmed that he was following that lead right now.
‘I know that Thorpe, sorry, Principal Thorpe hates them and has tried his best to stamp them out but…’
‘You don’t agree with him?’ Kim asked, surprised. ‘You approve of these clubs?’
‘Not even for a minute,’ she replied, quickly. ‘But trying to ban them has just sent them underground. It was once a badge of pride, worn by everyone involved, and so you knew who they were, kids, teachers, parents but now they have to hide.’
‘Shaun was a member,’ Kim said.
Joanna smiled sadly. ‘Exactly my point. I would never have known.’
‘So, was he a sociable kid?’ Kim asked, recalling how withdrawn Sadie had been.
Joanna frowned. ‘Not so much one of the popular crowd. He was one of those kids that existed somewhere in the middle. Not with the cool kids but not unpopular either.’
‘One of the invisibles?’ Bryant asked.
‘Probably,’ Joanna agreed. ‘He got a bit of good-natured ribbing about being late to lessons but he—’
‘Late to your lessons?’ Kim asked.
‘Sometimes,’ she said, with a fond smile. ‘My understanding is that he used to hang back in the showers until most of the other boys were done.’
Kim frowned. ‘He comes to you after gym on…’
‘Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon.’
‘And was he late yesterday?’ Kim asked.
Joanna nodded.
‘So, what did you do?’
‘Sent Christian off to get him.’
Kim felt a seed of dread form in her stomach.
‘You sent one of the other children to hurry him up?’
Joanna nodded and frowned. ‘Of course, bloody hell, I’ve already been through this once with Thorpe and Steele,’ she said, exasperated at having to repeat herself.
‘And what did—’
‘Christian Fellows,’ Joanna offered.
‘What did Christian say when he returned?’
Joanna thought for a moment and then tipped her head. ‘He didn’t return. Not before all the noise sounded in the corridor when Shaun had been discovered.’
Kim felt the dread turn into a wave. ‘So, we don’t know if Christian actually saw something when he went to chivvy up Shaun?’
Joanna shook her head. ‘I certainly haven’t asked him. To my knowledge Shaun had accidentally ingested a nut product.’
Kim glanced at Bryant. The alarm was reflected on his face as they both realised what they’d just learned.
Christian and Shaun had been out of the classroom at the same time. There were two possibilities. Either Christian had murdered Shaun or, if not, he might have seen who had.
Whichever scenario was accurate they needed to speak to the boy right now.
Forty-Nine
Christian Fellows now understood that he had never felt real fear in his thirteen years.
Not when he’d climbed the ancient elm tree in the garden and realised that he didn’t like heights. Or when he’d fallen and broken his left arm. Not even when his parents had sat him down for the ‘chat’ five years ago when he was eight years old. They had talked to him of not getting along, of separate houses and they would both still love him whether they were together or not. He now knew that had not been fear.
This was fear running around his body as though it was attached to his blood cells.
Because right now he was on his own.
He had made sure he’d been amongst people since he’d been sent to find Shaun the previous day.
He had heard Shaun’s cries for help, had seen him crawling across the floor, with a scarf covering his eyes, fighting for breath. He’d known that his classmate was dying, and he’d also known someone else was in the room.
He hadn’t seen the person. He didn’t know who it was. But the person didn’t know that. He wanted to put a sign on both his back and front stating ‘I didn’t see you’ so that whoever it was knew they were in no danger from him. He couldn’t tell anyone, in case he was telling the person who had done it.
He still didn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Shaun. Shaun didn’t upset anyone. He wasn’t the worst at anything or even the best. He was just Shaun.
From the moment he’d run away and hid in the library, trying to form his thoughts, trying to get his own breathing under control, he’d made sure that he was with someone every single minute.
All day he’d attached himself to any group so that whoever had hurt Shaun couldn’t get to him.
But he was alone now.
Mrs Atkinson had instructed him to leave the biology lesson and report to the headmaster’s office.
The hallways were deserted.
One more corridor to go and he’d be outside Mrs Lawson’s office and he’d feel safe again. Just down three stairs and then past the janitor’s room. Just ten more steps and he’d be safe.
He didn’t know why the headmaster wanted to see him. Did he know his secret? Did he know he’d seen Shaun and he’d done nothing but run away in fear? The heat of his shame flushed his cheeks.<
br />
If only Miss Wade had sent someone else. Maybe they’d have known what to do. Maybe they wouldn’t have run away, terrified. Maybe Shaun would still be alive.
Please just let me get to the office, he prayed, as a hand grabbed the back of his neck.
Fifty
Kim stepped into the gym hall to either prove or disprove the fear that was growing within her after speaking to Joanna Wade. The room was empty except for an athletic male dragging blue plastic mats to a pile at the side of the room. A pommel horse was the only item of equipment left to move. A line of blue tape was stretched across the doorway to the locker rooms where forensics were searching for clues to help them identify Shaun’s killer.
His face formed an instant frown at the intrusion of strangers into his work area. It faded as he realised who they were.
‘Police officers?’ he said, to make sure.
Both she and Bryant reached into their pockets for their identification.
He raised his hand. ‘It’s fine. I believe you. If you want to talk to my boys they’ve been sent to the pool block to shower.’
Kim said nothing. It took him two seconds to realise she was waiting for him to introduce himself.
‘Philip Havers, sports coach, PE teacher and general fitness expert,’ he said, offering his hand.
Bryant took it and shook it.
‘You found Shaun?’ she asked.
‘Yes, but not quickly enough to save his life,’ he said, swallowing and looking away.
‘Was he gone when you found him?’ Bryant asked.
Havers nodded, touching his lips. ‘They were blue, and his eyes were just staring. It’s like he was looking straight at me. I’ll never forget it.’ He turned towards her. ‘And yet the picture in my head is of him looking peaceful.’
She could understand that. After what Keats had described ravaging his young body, eventual death must have come as a kind of relief.
‘Could you give us the timeline?’ she asked.
Havers nodded. ‘The gym lesson was a good one. The kids love a basketball session. Guys went to shower up. Coffee-Todd hung back, as usual, putting away the equipment and being the last into the locker room.
‘I don’t supervise their shower time, officer, but I do stay close by in case I hear any issues arise in there,’ he explained.
‘Is that a safeguard for the children?’ she asked.
‘No, Inspector – it’s a safeguard for me,’ he explained.
She could imagine that false accusations could occur as well as genuine ones. And both could destroy a career.
‘I was tidying the girls’ locker room when the bell went and the boys all tumbled out and headed for their next lesson. After the rabble left I headed to the staff room for a coffee…’ He paused. ‘If only I hadn’t gone to the—’
‘Wasn’t he known for hanging back?’ Kim asked, to be sure.
Havers pulled himself out of his regret. ‘Yes, he was often the last to leave but the truth of it is that I never gave the kid a thought.’
The guilt of his honesty flashed across his face.
Kim was beginning to suspect that happened a lot with this child. By all accounts he was average. He wasn’t memorable academically or physically and was no troublemaker either.
‘So, you came back around—?’
‘Roughly ten past three. I got talking—’
Kim held up her hand. ‘I don’t want to know.’
She didn’t need him to explain himself to her. If she allowed it, he would then expect some kind of understanding or empathy from her, which she wasn’t prepared to give. He had forgotten a child and she didn’t make excuses for that.
Shaun Coffee-Todd had been left alone for fifteen minutes and was now dead, and she wasn’t about to start offering guilt pardons.
Mr Havers looked as though he wanted to say more. To explain himself, excuse himself but that wasn’t why she was here.
‘And could you show us exactly where you found Shaun?’ Kim asked.
‘I’ve already shown the crime scene guys.’
‘It would be most helpful,’ she said, lifting the crime scene tape for him to pass through.
They followed him along a tiled corridor that opened up into a locker room. Full-sized cabinets all had keys dangling from their locks. Long wooden benches separated the row of lockers. Beyond was a wall that wound around to a row of six showers.
‘Just point,’ she said, ignoring the crime scene techs that looked her way. She wasn’t committing any sins. Havers’s DNA would be all over the place.
‘Mr Havers, did you see a child named Christian Fellows at any time?’
Havers frowned as though trying to recall. He began to shake his head. ‘All the others had gone to—’
‘Christian Fellows was sent back to get him,’ Kim clarified.
‘No, I never saw him, Inspector.’
‘Okay, thank you for your time, Mr Havers, and if you could just give us a minute.’
Philip Havers nodded and walked away as Kim headed back to the shower.
* * *
The journey from the nearest shower to Shaun’s final position was roughly thirty feet, which the poor kid had crawled on his knees, desperately trying to reach the only thing that could save him.
‘What could this kid possibly have done to upset anyone?’ her colleague asked.
‘Absolutely nothing, Bryant,’ she agreed. ‘He wasn’t significant enough for that,’ she said, not unkindly. She suspected his place in the suit of Spades was likely due to his famous father.
‘He hadn’t done anything wrong. He wasn’t troubled like Sadie. He wasn’t a bad kid or a bully. He had no enemies and yet someone wanted him dead. He had no links to Sadie, and they were completely different kinds of kids,’ she said, walking back to the entrance to the shower block where it divided for boys and girls. She walked it again, slowly.
As she turned the first corner she saw herself in the full-length mirror. But that wasn’t all she could see. The mirror offered her a view of the exact spot where Shaun had taken his last breath.
‘So, what are you thinking?’ Bryant asked, appearing beside her.
‘He saw something, Bryant,’ she said, walking back towards the gym hall just as Havers disappeared into the main corridor.
‘Christian Fellows definitely saw something, and we need to find out where he is.’
Fifty-One
Dawson parked the car beside a Range Rover Discovery that sat in front of a spacious barn conversion. This was nearer to the picture in his mind for the registered address of a Heathcrest Academy pupil.
The door was answered by a woman he guessed to be in her early sixties. Her hair was a short shock of white atop a naturally tanned skin tone. Simple stud earrings adorned her lobes, and a silver chain around her neck accentuated skin that had spent time outdoors.
But this woman was too old to be the mother of the boy he was seeking.
‘May I help you?’ she asked, pleasantly.
‘I’m sorry, I’m looking for Tristan Rock,’ he said. The family must have moved in the nine months since he’d attended Heathcrest.
‘You know Tristan?’ she asked, stepping aside.
Dawson shook his head as he entered the property. ‘Is Tristan here?’
The woman nodded and offered her hand. ‘Louisa Rock,’ she said. ‘Tristan’s paternal grandmother.’
Dawson shook her hand and introduced himself.
She looked puzzled but invited him to sit.
‘What business do you have with my grandson?’ she asked, reaching for a small china cup on the coffee table.
‘I’d just like a moment with either your grandson or his parents, if I may,’ Dawson replied, assuming she was living here in her son’s house. If Tristan was home, he guessed he must be home-schooled now.
‘I’m afraid Tristan’s parents don’t live here. This is my home, and Tristan lives here with me,’ she said, protectively.
‘I didn’t re
alise that. Are you his legal guardian?’ he asked, trying to keep the open challenge from his voice.
There was something sinister going on at that school that may or may not be linked to the death of two children, and he had a feeling that Tristan Rock could offer him some help.
‘Tristan has lived with me since he was four years old because of my proximity to the school. And the fact that his parents are very rarely in the country,’ she said, unable to keep the disapproval from her voice. ‘My son lives off his inheritance from his father, who gave him too much money and not enough sense, I’m afraid.’
Dawson was forming a picture in his mind.
‘They didn’t want Tristan?’ he asked, lowering his voice.
‘There’s no need to whisper. He can’t hear you. They wanted him at first but not when he became an inconvenience to their lifestyle. I’m afraid to say my son is very spoiled and has never worked a day in his life. He chose an equally fickle wife, and they have much in common. The main thing being that they both love themselves more than anything else in the world.’
Dawson couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips. ‘Mrs Rock, your candour is refreshing.’
‘I blame myself, of course, and my late husband. No one wants to see their child struggle but having the financial means to remove all adversity isn’t always the kindest thing to do for one’s children.’
‘Does Tristan see his parents?’ Dawson asked. Her honesty made him feel he could ask her anything.
‘Not for a few months now,’ she admitted.
Dawson realised that so far he’d found nothing to envy among these privileged kids at Heathcrest. The only thing that had kept him going through the misery of his school days had been the closeness of his family.
‘You still haven’t explained why you’d like to meet my grandson,’ she said. ‘Or offered me any reason to allow it.’
Well, Tristan might not have the love of his parents, but Dawson wouldn’t want to take this woman on. Thank goodness the kid had someone in his corner.
Her own honesty prompted the exact same response from him. ‘Mrs Rock, there have been incidents at the school that are currently being investigated. In the course of that investigation we’ve stumbled across what appear to be episodes of bullying, hazing, intimidation, and I wondered if your grandson could help me better understand exactly what is going on.’
Dying Truth: A completely gripping crime thriller Page 15