‘Agreements?’
‘Non-disclosure agreements. Between Tristan’s parents and the school.’
Dawson balked. ‘This happened to Tristan at Heathcrest?’
She nodded. ‘My son accepted a financial settlement to help compensate for the inconvenience of the accident.’
‘“Accident”?’ he asked, aware that he was repeating her words.
Louisa Rock pursed her lips and nodded.
‘Mrs Rock, what is the nature of your son’s condition?’
She sighed heavily.
‘It’s called Hyponatremia. Otherwise known as water intoxication. Excessive water intake creates a sodium imbalance causing cells to swell. He drank himself into unconsciousness.’
‘How do you know?’
‘He filmed himself doing it, officer. He used his phone to capture the whole event as he drank pint after pint of water and, in effect, eventually drowned himself. The phone caught his eventual collapse and the entrance of his room-mate an hour later, by which time it was too late.’
Dawson pictured the phone positioned, filming as his condition worsened, an eye on him that could not communicate to anyone.
‘The doctors did all they could, but he was already brain dead.’
Dawson felt the rage building within him that the school had so easily been able to avoid yet another scandal by handing over a fistful of money.
‘But why did he do it in the first place?’ Dawson asked.
‘It was his initiation task. It was a dare from the King of Spades.’
Fifty-Five
Kim watched the ambulance race away with its blue lights flashing before turning to the surprisingly athletic man beside her.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
He nodded as the colour began to return to his face.
Bodies had converged on them from every direction in response to Bryant’s call for help. She had held the boy tight, watching his breathing, ready to perform CPR if his chest failed to rise.
The second she’d thought she heard sirens Graham Steele had gently taken Christian from her arms as though he were no heavier than a feather and charged through the crowds to get him to the front of the building as quickly as possible. No one had stood in his way.
While holding him Kim had wondered how he was still alive and her mind recalled the placement of the sheet around his neck. The knot had rested beneath his chin and not pressing on his windpipe.
‘He was a friend of Shaun’s,’ Graham said, as though that explained everything. It did not. ‘He was actually on his way for a welfare check. If only I’d seen him.’
‘It’s not attempted suicide,’ she said, as the ambulance disappeared from view. Bryant was in the building somewhere right now talking to Woody and explaining that fact.
‘What do you—’
‘The chair,’ she said. ‘I stood on it and could barely reach the beam, so Christian wouldn’t have had a chance. The chair was staged to look like he’d kicked it away, but he couldn’t have. Someone tried to kill this kid,’ she said, meeting his doubtful gaze. ‘The third in a week,’ she observed.
‘But they’re just children,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘What possible motive could anyone…’
‘You speak to many of the students here, Graham,’ she observed. ‘Is there anyone you think is capable of committing—’
‘You think a student could have done this?’
‘Don’t you?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry but I’m not going to even consider such a hypothesis,’ he said, walking away.
Kim chewed on her own frustration. First Ted and now the school counsellor. Was there no one prepared to have this conversation with her?
She headed back into the school, forcing her way through groups chattering and whispering, dissecting the latest events.
Crime scene tape had been stretched across the doorway to the janitor’s room and two techies dispatched from the shower block were assessing the scene from within.
Bryant headed towards her carrying two coffees. As he got closer he shook his head.
‘No go,’ he said.
‘What the hell is it going to take to close this bloody place down?’ she growled. How many kids had to die? She wondered, relieving Bryant of one cup.
‘Oh no, brace yourself,’ he said, looking behind her.
She turned to see Thorpe attempting to bypass the crime scene tape and enter the janitor’s room.
She stepped towards the doorway and held up her hand. ‘Sorry, Principal Thorpe, but I can’t allow you to enter.’
His face reddened to full ripeness.
‘You can’t keep me out of—’
‘Oh yes I can,’ she said, stepping away and sipping coffee. ‘Tell him, Bryant.’
Her colleague’s lips twitched as he approached the doorway.
‘Sir, we cannot allow any further contamination of the crime scene,’ Bryant said, as she leaned against the wall and took a sip of her coffee. ‘We are following all necessary protocols for a double murder and an attempted murder, and I’m sure you’re equally keen that we uncover the perpetrator at the earliest opportunity.’
‘Of course, officer. I have parents calling and turning up to remove their children. I’d like you to speak to them and offer them your reassurance that their children are safe here.’
Kim almost spat her coffee right in his face. ‘That’s not gonna happen, I’m afraid. Unfortunately, the word is out now, making everyone’s job a whole lot harder, but we will not offer reassurance that we cannot guarantee. Now, I’m thinking that closing down the site and sending the kids home might be a reasonable guarantee of their safety.’
‘The board and I discussed the possibility while exploring alternative options.’
‘And decided to employ a private security company,’ she said, looking behind him. ‘And they are, err… where exactly?’
‘We can’t hold them responsible for this,’ he argued.
‘But their presence didn’t exactly prevent it either, did it, Principal Thorpe?’
‘It’s a reassuring presence,’ he said. ‘It will make everyone feel better.’
‘Do you really believe that?’ she asked, incredulously. ‘Or is it so that you can use it to convince quivering parents to keep their children here while trying to keep the reputation of the school intact, because if you take a look at the press community camped at the school gates that ship has pretty much sailed.’
He bit his lower lip before answering. ‘Inspector, the reputation of this and other independent schools is what our clients pay for. Our students must learn to face adversity to prepare them for life after Heathcrest.’
Kim looked to Bryant to see if he was smelling the same level of bullshit.
His expression told her he was.
She stepped closer, despising his priority of reputation. ‘I am so pleased that current events have served the school in the name of character building for the remaining students, but might I remind you that there is a killer on these premises, Principal Thorpe, and two of your charges are already dead. I suggest that becomes your pressing priority, and the fact that parents are arriving to remove their children restores my faith in the power of their judgement. Now, please leave us alone to do our job.’
His eyes widened and his teeth ground together as his gaze bore into hers.
She did not look away. Four seconds later she was watching his back as he stormed along the corridor.
‘Feel better there, guv?’ Bryant asked.
‘Oh yeah. I needed that.’
‘Good to see you adhering to Woody’s instruction, guv?’
‘Which one?’ she asked.
‘Making a nuisance of yourself.’
‘I like to do what I’m told,’ she said deadpan.
Bryant sputtered his coffee as her phone began to ring.
‘Keats,’ she said into the handset.
He didn’t beat around the bush as he gave her the results of the toxicology report he’d received for Sadie Winters.
She listened silently as he explained in layman’s terms what had been found.
She ended the call and turned to Bryant.
‘Locate Saffron Winters. I want to talk to that girl right now.’
Fifty-Six