Mrs Kilpatrick pulled one out and wiped the corners of her eyes. ‘I’m sorry… I’m not used to this kind of thing.’
‘I understand,’ Kate said, offering a supportive smile. ‘I’ve been in the force for nearly fifteen years and you never get used to it. I do need to ask you a few questions, but I appreciate this isn’t an easy time for you.’
She blew her nose. ‘No, I’m okay now, please ask your questions.’
Kate nodded at Laura. ‘This is DC Laura Trotter, who is one of the best on my team. She’s going to jot some notes of my questions and your answers. Okay?’
Mrs Kilpatrick nodded.
‘Okay, well, first things first: have you seen anything strange in the last week, or anyone acting suspiciously that you can recall?’
‘No, not that I can remember.’
‘Nobody at the school that you didn’t expect, or someone hanging about outside the gates or the fence?’
Mrs Kilpatrick shook her head. ‘No.’
‘And none of your faculty members have mentioned seeing anything unusual, maybe strange noises, or strangers hanging around?’
‘No, but I don’t get as much one-on-one time with the staff as I’d like. I can ask, if that would help?’
‘That’s okay,’ Kate offered, ‘but if you have a list of your staff members and their contact details you could provide me, I’ll have my team reach out to them over the weekend and check.’ She paused to allow Laura to catch up. ‘Are there regular visitors to the premises who aren’t faculty members?’
Mrs Kilpatrick thought for a moment. ‘Of course, there’s Mr Watkins who tends the grounds, looks after the gardens; that sort of thing. Then there’s the postman, but it’s not always the same person. There’s a third-party contractor who delivers food daily for the school dinners. And we have two cleaning ladies who are here between four and six each night.’
‘And presumably each of these visitors would be required to sign the visitors’ book?’
‘Oh yes.’ Mrs Kilpatrick nodded. ‘Everybody signs the visitors’ book, apart from the students. Mrs Fletcher is very thorough with that.’
‘Mrs Fletcher? The woman who buzzed us through the gate this morning?’
‘That’s her. I know she can seem challenging when you first meet her, but she’s all right when you get to know her.’
‘And that’s it? No other regular visitors we should know about?’
‘Apart from parents coming to visit teachers. Oh, and Chris Jackson, he seems to be here once a week at the moment.’
Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘And he is?’
‘Photocopy engineer. It breaks down all the time. I’ve told the board of governors we need to invest in a new one, but there just isn’t the funding with the new swimming pool due. Maybe next year.’
‘And so, this Mr Jackson has been on the school premises this week?’
‘You’ll have to check the visitor’s book,’ Mrs Kilpatrick admitted, ‘but it wouldn’t surprise me. Oh, but Chris is lovely: he wouldn’t harm a fly.’
‘I’m sure you’re right, but we need to know who was about this week to rule them in or out of the enquiry, and to check whether they saw anything odd. Would you be able to provide me the names and contact information for any regular visitors?’
‘I’ll email it over to you now.’ She stared at her monitor and worked the mouse and keyboard.
‘Thank you.’ Kate said, standing. ‘Is Mr Linus still around? I’d like to go over his exact movements this evening.’
‘I expect he is,’ Mrs Kilpatrick said, ‘he lives on the grounds.’
Kate fired a look at Laura. ‘He lives here?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Mrs Kilpatrick said, sending the email and locking her computer. ‘He has a house – well, it’s more of a shack – at the far side of the grounds, away from the main building. I’ll take you to him now, if you want? I’d like to check how he’s doing. Do you need me to hang around for anything else tonight?’ she added, unable to stifle her yawn.
‘Once we have the footage from the cameras, I think it’s fine for you to go home,’ Kate replied, ‘though we may need to speak to you again in the morning.’
‘Fine,’ she sighed, locking the office door as she ushered them back into the hauntingly quiet corridor. ‘If you follow me, I’ll take you to Mr Linus now.’
Kate nodded, the buzz of adrenaline coursing through her veins.
5
Opening a side door, Mrs Kilpatrick led Kate and Laura out, across one of the playgrounds, through a padlocked gate in the wire perimeter fence, to what resembled a small bungalow, hidden away in a thicket of trees, out of sight of the main school.
‘How does he get out?’ Kate asked.
Mrs Kilpatrick paused before knocking on the weathered door. ‘I don’t understand your question.’
‘I mean, when he wants to go out, to the shops or the cinema or wherever, if the school gates are closed during the day and at night, how does he get in and out of the grounds?’
‘Oh, he has his own private exit.’
Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘Where?’
‘Just round the back of here,’ she said, moving away from the door and skirting across the rough and muddy ground to the rear of the building. ‘There you go,’ she said, pointing.
Beyond Mrs Kilpatrick’s finger was a high brick wall separating the grounds from the main road, but built into the wall was a thick iron gate. A digital keypad flashed on the wall next to the gate.
‘My team weren’t aware of this third exit. We were told there were only two entrances and exits, apart from the main school building itself: the teachers’ car park and the student entrance.’
Mrs Kilpatrick looked bemused. ‘Well, nobody comes or goes from here, only Mr Linus. He’s the only person with the code.’
‘Even so, you should have told us about it. Is there a security camera monitoring this entrance?’
Mrs Kilpatrick suddenly looked concerned. ‘Well, no, but from here you can only get to the wire fence which leads to the playground and main school building. You’d need keys to get through both, but even then, the sports hall is over the other side of the grounds; there’s no direct route to it. If your suspect had come in here, he would have somehow had to make his way through the school building unnoticed and back out the other side. I don’t think that’s very likely.’
Kate fixed her with a serious look. ‘I’ll be the judge of that. I’ll have one of my forensics experts have a look, regardless. There’s mud, so there could be footprints we can use, or possible fingerprints on that keypad.’ Kate turned to Laura. ‘Can you have SSD check this out while I talk to the caretaker?’
Laura nodded and peeled away, pressing the phone to her ear.
‘Anything else I should know about?’ Kate asked the head teacher.
Mrs Kilpatrick lowered her eyes, realising her mistake, and simply shook her head.
Linus still hadn’t opened his door as Kate returned to the step, so she knocked, leaning closer to listen for movement. ‘Are you sure he’s in here? Is it possible he’s somewhere else on the grounds?’
Mrs Kilpatrick moved away. ‘He said he was coming back here. I’ll go and check he’s not somewhere in the school.’
Kate remained where she was, and banged the door again until it eventually opened, and the caretaker, looking every one of his sixty-plus years, and wearing a flat cap pulled low over his eyes, answered.
‘Mr Linus.’ Kate smiled supportively. ‘Can you spare me a few minutes for a chat?’
He nodded, his movements jittery.
‘May I come in?’ Kate asked.
He looked uncertain of an answer, but eventually stood to one side and allowed her in. As she passed, Kate breathed in and understood instantly why his eyes looked so bloodshot, and why he’d been so reluctant to let her in.
Kate found herself in an open-plan cabin, a television and armchair in one corner, a small kitchen cooker, fridge and sink facing the school, and presumably a small bathroom and bedroom beyond the two doors at the back of the room.
‘Keeps the cold out,’ he muttered nervously, as he saw her eyeing the tumbler on the table next to the chair in the corner.