Things We Cannot See

by Dianne Maguire

  ‘Is Miss Hosking as supportive as Mr Fuller?’ Laura asked Alex as the waitress set down their drinks and the two teachers passed outside the window without further acknowledgement.

  Alex shrugged. ‘She’s fairly supportive. But she’s not . . . I don’t know, she doesn’t care as much as Mr Fuller. He tells me how much everyone really likes me and cares about me. He makes me feel special.’

  ‘Be very careful, won’t you, Alex?’ Laura said, slowly stirring her cappuccino.

  Alex frowned. Tucked her hands under her thighs. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean trust your gut. If he ever says or does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, even in the least, listen to your instincts and leave immediately.’

  Alex’s expression was typical of any fifteen year old, politely listening to what was being said, but not hearing a word. Laura leaned towards her. ‘Alex, some adults, including teachers, talk about personal things with kids, usually when there’s no one else around. Some kids are good at picking up the vibes and knowing whether the teacher is acting like a normal teacher, or whether they are getting too personal. Other kids don’t. They just think it’s great that the teacher is showing such a personal interest. They see it as kindness and caring. But when teachers get kids alone for extended periods, and when it happens regularly, it’s possible they are what we call “grooming” them.

  Alex rolled her eyes. ‘You mean like for sex?’

  ‘Yes. Teachers all know it’s not appropriate or permitted that they keep a student regularly after class and discuss really personal things with them, like they way they look or how attractive and popular they are, especially when there’s no one else present.’

  Alex’s eyes narrowed. ‘I think that’s been invented by old people who are jealous because they’re not attractive any more.’

  Laura sighed. ‘Do me a favour, Alex. Look it up in your search engine tonight when you go home.’

  ‘Are you saying Mr Fuller is a paedophile?’ Alex hissed.

  ‘I’m saying being a teacher does not preclude anyone from being a paedophile, especially since kids tend to be very trusting of them.’ And part of paedophilic grooming is to win the trust of other adults in the child’s life, like other teachers and parents. ‘Just be alert. Trust your instincts. It would be best if you didn’t spend time alone with Mr Fuller in future.’

  Alex shook her head. Pushed her empty cup away. ‘Mr Fuller is a good person. Roger Grenfell is the one giving me the creeps,’ she said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘He was waiting for me after school yesterday. It was really lucky Maddi was with me and walked me home. I freaked. He said he wanted to walk me home from now on – to keep me safe. He wouldn’t go away no matter how many times I told him I didn’t need him to keep me safe.’

  ‘Really?’ Laura said. ‘Did he leave you alone eventually?’

  ‘He turned into Davis Avenue. We came here and had a hot chocolate just to get away from him. He just wouldn’t get it,’ she said, shaking her head with frustration. ‘He kept saying the same thing all the time. Like, What’s changed? Or Why don’t you talk to me anymore? Somehow he seems bigger and scarier out in the open than in the store. He said you told him he had to wait until I’m seventeen.’ Alex pulled a face. ‘That really creeped me out.’

  ‘He shouldn’t be sending you notes, but it’s not illegal,’ Laura said. ‘Noah and I tried to explain that you are underage and he may be frightening you by writing those notes.’

  ‘Well, he freaks me out. And I don’t get why you’re warning me against caring adults like Mr Fuller, but you can’t stop Roger from stalking me.’

  ‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I think Roger will leave me alone from now on,’ Alex said as they walked down the side lane towards car park.

  ‘Why do you say that?’ Laura said, pointing the remote.

  Alex fastened her seatbelt. ‘Last night Mum went to drive Maddi home and Roger was standing across the road from our house. Like, just standing there, fully in the open,’ Alex said, lifting her splayed fingers for emphasis. ‘Anyway, Mum got scared. She and Maddi ran back inside and told Greg.’

  ‘Do Greg and your mother know about Roger’s notes yet?’ Laura said, instantly alarmed.

  Alex made a face. ‘No way. But since I was attacked they believe everyone on this earth wants to rape me. And Greg came home in a really bad mood last night. I was in my room doing my homework when Mum and Maddi came tearing back inside. Maddi was shaking. We watched from my bedroom window as Greg stormed outside and bowled straight up to Roger – like, their noses were touching. The more Roger pulled back the more Greg stepped forward. When Greg yelled “Now piss off” really loud, Roger just turned and ran home. After Mum and Maddi left, Greg was super quiet. Like, it was creepy. I didn’t mention Roger again because I didn’t want to make him mad.’

  ‘Are you sure Greg didn’t hit Roger?’ Laura asked.

  ‘No. He just yelled at him,’ Alex said.

  ‘Do you still feel safe with Greg?’ Laura asked.

  Alex nodded before they lapsed into silence again.

  ‘Um, is Noah any closer to finding the guy – Greg will want to know,’ Alex said with a grimace as they coasted into the school car park.

  ‘Tell him that Noah and his guys are working very hard on this case. Greg should ring Noah if he’s concerned.’

  Laura watched Alex make her way across the manicured lawns and turn to wave before running through the doorway of the red brick building. She was about to back the car out of the car park when her phone signalled a text message from Tara. Can you talk?

  ‘Seth won’t let up with his nagging to see Simon,’ Tara said when she answered. ‘Are you working this weekend?’

  Laura watched a group of students run up the wide slate steps of the stone administration building, her heart sinking at Tara’s news. ‘Dammit. Yes, I’m working Saturday and Sunday until three. But that doesn’t mean Simon and Seth can’t spend time together.’

  ‘I was hoping to come down for the day as well,’ Tara said.

  ‘Come,’ Laura said. ‘The three of you can spend a lovely day together. I’ll try to change shifts, but even if I can’t, I’ll still be home for dinner. Stay the night.’

  ‘Seth would love that,’ Tara said. ‘How are things going since Simon’s been back?’

  Laura shrugged. ‘My take on what’s happening? We’re both slipping back into our old ways. Simon’s take? Who the eff knows?’

  ‘Well, I for one am glad you have company again. I was worried about you being alone in that house. You’re living on a practically deserted beach with hardly any full-time neighbours.’

  ‘Really, Tara? I love my own company, I always have. Not for a moment did I feel frightened or lonely.’

  ‘Mum,’ Tara chided, ‘you’ve obviously forgotten how gloomy you were when Simon left.’

  Laura sighed. ‘Yes. But I soon got used to it.’ That’s half the problem. ‘It would make coming back together so much easier if Simon would open up and talk with a bit of depth,’ she said before pausing. ‘Did you see him while he was away from home? I thought you may have arranged for he and Seth to spend time together.’

  ‘No, of course not, Mum.’ Tara’s tone was incredulous. ‘Have you forgotten how much Seth complained the whole time about not seeing Simon?’ She paused. ‘Why do you ask?’

  Laura sighed. ‘I found the tiny tip of a stiletto in his car. You are the only woman I know who wears them like that.’

  ‘I would have told you if I’d seen him,’ Tara said. ‘The shoe tip is a puzzle. I wonder how it got in his car?’ she added after a beat of silence. ‘Are you going to ask him?’

  ‘I’m not sure yet. I’m still trying to figure that out.’

  Her bag slung over one shoulder and clasping her third coffee for the day, Laura made her way across the floor towards her workstation, immediately deviating when she noticed
Noah at his desk. She stepped up to face him, his computer screen filling the space between them.

  ‘Yes, Sergeant Nesci, and what can I do for you?’ he said in a cartoon voice, his fingers running across his keyboard, his eyes not moving from the screen.

  ‘I’ve just seen Alex Holt,’ Laura said, sipping her coffee. ‘It seems Clive Fuller has kept her alone after class twice since she was attacked. She was ultra defensive about his intentions. Said he’s very caring and supportive. That she does not feel uncomfortable when she’s alone with him. We had the grooming conversation but it fell on profoundly deaf ears . . . I think. Anyway, I avoided telling her what you found out about him from Victoria.’

  Finally Noah glanced up from his keyboard.

  ‘He’s interested in her, Noah. And he could possibly be Alex’s attacker,’ Laura continued. ‘I assumed you were intending to chat with him.’

  ‘Mm, maybe. But not until tomorrow.’ His sights dropped to the keyboard again.

  ‘Oh yes!’ Laura said after taking a few steps away. ‘Roger Grenfell was waiting for Alex after school last night. He told her he was going to walk her home every day to keep her safe. He eventually got the message from Alex and her friend Maddi that he should leave them be, but turned up later outside Alex’s house. Apparently Greg Fuller told him in no uncertain terms to stay away.’

  Noah frowned ‘Did Greg get physical?’

  ‘No. Alex told me Roger skedaddled out of there once Greg raised his voice. It sounds as though the pressure of all this is taking its toll on Greg.’

  ‘Well, Roger Grenfell would be well advised to stay away from Alex altogether, but it remains to be seen whether that is even remotely possible. I have serious doubts about that guy,’ Noah said, shaking his head before commencing his two finger skate across the keyboard again.

  ‘Hello,’ Laura called after unlocking the back door, puzzled by the morbid silence, at odds with Simon’s car sitting in the driveway. ‘Simon, I’m home,’ she called, her steps echoing along the timber passage and into the tiled kitchen. Shrugging off her bag and briefcase, she jabbed at the air conditioner, staring with unblinking disbelief at the shining kitchen bench and freshly vacuumed floors. Even the day’s newspapers lay folded on the end of the dining table. In a daze of confusion she made her way to the bedroom, surprised again by the distinct absence of detritus flung about the bed and carpet. She changed into jeans and a loose shirt, wondering for how long this new development could be expected to last.

  Back in the kitchen she gazed out over the sea, a deeper than usual shade of blue in the fading light, and considered with a galling lack of interest what she could cook for dinner. With a deep sigh she checked the refrigerator, elated to find a colourful tossed salad and a freshly made lasagne staring back at her. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Things don’t change that much,’ she muttered, her guilt niggling over the way she had been treating him. She slipped the lasagne into the oven and poured a glass of wine.

  The vision of the stiletto tip visiting her yet again, Laura removed it from her purse and placed it strategically on the kitchen bench, tucked alongside the coffee machine where it would be noticed without looking like it had been planted. She would watch Simon closely for any signs of acknowledgement or recognition once he saw it, the scenario playing in her mind of him snatching it up like one of those hands in a box she used to play with as a kid. Then she imagined him presenting a perfectly logical explanation as to why it was in his car. She just couldn’t imagine what that logical explanation could be.

  Later, when people asked her how long she’d been at home before the police knocked on her door, she would tell them she had no idea. It could have been five minutes or two hours. All she could say was that she was reading and signing reports at her dining table, sipping wine, aromas of baked lasagne filling the room, when she had looked up through the window to see car lights cruising into her property. Knowing it was not Simon’s car, because his was still in the driveway, she had refused to look further once she noticed its distinct and profoundly familiar markings, filling her mind instead with thoughts about the silver moonlight shimmering off the inky sea and how suddenly night had fallen. How she had pushed aside her confusion – or had it been guilt, over why she hadn’t realised until then that Simon should have been home long ago. And how within all this confusion, spanning less than a second, there had been the overriding realisation, certainty beyond any doubt, that something dreadful had happened.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Distracted by their gardener, Maddi lifted her head from her laptop and watched him throw handfuls of fertilizer across the lawn. Since she and Alex had watched Roger stand as stiff as a totem pole last night while Greg shouted and pushed him around on the footpath, Maddi had wondered how Alex coped with the bizarre happenings filling her world.

  ‘I told Laura Nesci about Roger stalking me yesterday,’ Alex had said to her during afternoon recess today. ‘I didn’t tell her about Greg being so full-on because I didn’t want to get him into trouble.’

  Tapping her pencil on the desk Maddi pondered the maze of secrets and lies she was finding herself suddenly trapped in. She wondered what her parents would say, how they would feel, if they knew Roger was stalking Alex. ‘They would freak,’ she muttered with a sigh, reluctantly dragging her attention back to her homework. ‘And they wouldn’t let me see Alex ever again.’

  The sound of her parents’ cars idling into the garage brought a smile. All previous thought of Alex, Roger and homework abandoned, Maddi leapt from her desk, tore through the house and pushed through the door between the lush indoor portico and the garage.

  ‘You’re home early,’ she said, unable to control her smile.

  Slamming the back door of his car, the same shade of silver as his thick wavy hair, Andrew’s smile abated only to kiss his daughter’s cheek. His arms laden with briefcase and files he turned sideways to pass through as Maddi held the door open.

  Jayne climbed from her black Audi, her stilettos clicking on the concrete surface as she tottered towards the boot, which beeped and opened. ‘We felt so bad that you were already asleep when we arrived home after the realtors’ meeting last night, darling, that we made a joint decision to be home tonight before dark. Could you give me a hand with these, please?’ Jayne handed two grocery sacks to Maddi, reaching into the boot for another and her briefcase, kissing Maddi on the cheek as she passed. ‘We’ll have lamb shanks for dinner. I’m so glad I thought to defrost them this morning,’ she said, placing the groceries and her briefcase onto the marble bench.

  ‘I bumped into Alex’s mother in the store today,’ Jayne said later at the dinner table. ‘What’s her name? Oh yes, Cynthia. It seems Alex has picked up her job again at the store,’ she said, taking a sip from an oversized wine glass. ‘Cynthia also said she drove you home last night, Madeline.’ Dabbing her lips with the napkin and picking up her knife and fork she cut a morsel of meat. ‘I’m wondering why you didn’t come straight home after school, darling. You know the rules.’

  She watched intently for Maddi’s response. Maddi noticed her father lift his chin. Knew instinctively that whatever Alex’s mother had told them about last night had shaken them up. They would have workshopped this exact discussion before raising the subject with her. Maddi was struggling to convince herself that they had actually come home to spend quality time with her rather than having this little talk.

  ‘I walked Alex home because she was a bit upset. Mrs Holt drove me here afterwards because it was getting dark.’ She swallowed her anger over their obvious lack of trust in her judgement.

  ‘Well, thank goodness she did,’ Jayne said. ‘I hate the thought of you walking home alone in the dark, especially since Alex was attacked.’

  Silence followed, broken only by the sounds of cutlery scraping against fine china, the muffled sounds of the television in the next room.

  ‘Why was Alex upset?’ Jayne said after a moment.

&
nbsp; Maddi swallowed her mouthful, stalling for time, choosing her words. ‘There’s an older guy who lives nearby. He’s a bit, um, different. Alex knows him because he comes into the store sometimes. Anyway he was there after school and it upset her. She asked me to walk home with her.’ She deliberately made a face that said I’m wasting my time having to tell you this.

  Jayne and Andrew exchanged worried frowns.

  ‘Did this man say anything to Alex?’ Andrew said.

  ‘He told her he wanted to walk her home because he wanted her to be safe,’ Maddi said.

  ‘Do the police know about this man?’ Andrew said, his brow crinkling.

  Maddi’s intense stare met her father’s. ‘Yes. Alex has told the police and they have spoken to him.’

  ‘Alex has told the police exactly what?’ Jayne said. ‘What did this man do before yesterday to make Alex so afraid?’

  ‘Oh Mum, I don’t know. She just is. He’s different . . . a bit strange, but he’s not violent or anything like that.’

  ‘I think you should stay away from Alex’s house for a while until things settle down.’

  ‘Just a minute, Jayne,’ Andrew said, turning to Maddi. ‘Was this man waiting for Alex again after school today?’

  ‘No.’ Maddi shook her head, her gut churning.

  ‘Regardless of whether he was there this afternoon or not, I think Madeline should stay away from Alex’s house until things are more stable.’ Jayne widened her eyes at Andrew – a gesture they all recognised as her mother demanding the final word.

  ‘But she’s my friend,’ Maddi shouted. ‘Alex hasn’t done anything wrong. Neither have I. Why are you punishing us?

  ‘We’re not punishing you, sweet pea,’ her father crooned. ‘We’re just a little worried about you being dragged into Alex’s problems.’