‘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 realise 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.