‘Go on,’ he urged, gently.
‘Miss Wade pulled me aside one day and told me about a poem Sadie had written and asked me if I knew if she was in any kind of trouble.’
‘Did you read the poem?’ Dawson asked.
She shook her head. ‘Miss Wade had given it to someone else to look at, but she told me it was all about abortion.’
Tilly began to colour as she chewed her bottom lip.
‘Tell me everything, Tilly,’ he prompted gently.
‘I read Sadie’s diary. I was just trying to help,’ she said, guiltily. ‘I was going to tell Miss Wade anything I found, I swear. I was just making sure Sadie was okay.’
‘Have you still got her diary now?’ Dawson asked, remembering it was still missing.
‘No, I promise. I put it straight back in her backpack. I only looked once and nearly had a panic attack that she’d come in and catch me.’
‘And what did you read in there, Tilly?’ he asked.
‘Enough to put two and two together.’
‘Who had the illegal abortion?’ he asked.
‘I think you already know.’
Ninety-Three
‘We were the same age and I was her study partner,’ Thorpe said, standing up and moving to the window. ‘We met in the library three evenings a week, at first.’
Kim felt a rumbling in her stomach that had nothing to do with hunger.
‘I felt sorry for her when she first came to Heathcrest. A person thrust into this environment amongst peers whose futures at the school had been preordained from birth. Heathcrest didn’t take too well to new things. Treated them as oddities, and a girl plucked from the local comprehensive was an oddity indeed.’
He took a deep breath.
‘We were in the same maths group. A subject she struggled with and I did not. I offered to help her, and we met in the library to—’
‘What was she like?’ Kim asked.
He smiled but was ready to answer. ‘Sad, lonely and eager to fit in. I always felt that the dream of competition in swimming at the highest level was more a dream of her mother’s than her own. Don’t get me wrong, she loved the sport. Only someone who truly loves what they’re doing trains on the level of championship competitors, but I felt that the joy was being sucked out of it for her.
‘At her old school swimming was just a part of who she was. She had friends, interests, familiarity, normality. I think all of that changed when she came here. Her whole life became about swimming. It was the only reason she was here.’
‘The girls didn’t like her?’ Bryant asked.
Thorpe turned and sat down.
‘I saw it back then, and I see it even more clearly now as each new year begins. The groups form, the girls size each other up, form into packs of leaders and followers, assess their competition. Lorraine started part way through the school year. The packs were formed and there was no space for anyone new. It’s one of the reasons I’ve tried so hard to stamp out the wretched elite societies and clubs here at Heathcrest. They benefit the few and demean the many. Kids not chosen already feel inferior, which can stay with them for life.’
‘Were you part of one of those societies?’ Kim asked.
He shook his head.
But you wanted to be, Kim thought.
‘Was Lorraine bullied?’ Bryant asked.
‘Ignored and isolated, I think would be a fairer assessment,’ he said sadly.
Not by everyone, Kim thought. The girl had been pregnant, so someone had been paying her attention.
‘Did she start to miss your study lessons like she did with swimming practice?’ Kim asked.
‘Now and again, but we both did. Sometimes it was clear that even when she was there, she wasn’t. I’d look up from my books, and she’d be staring into space.’
‘Did you ask her what was wrong?’
‘A few times but she wouldn’t tell me.’
Kim sighed heavily. Lorraine Peters had been thrust into a world that was totally alien to her. The same rules no longer applied. Here at Heathcrest it didn’t matter how hard she’d worked or how promising an athlete she was, she would never have fitted in. She’d been miserable, lonely and frightened, and someone here had taken advantage of all those things, courted her, possibly manipulated her and ruined her future. All for the sake of having sex with her.
Kim couldn’t help feeling that once they found the father they would also find the murderer.
She narrowed her gaze. ‘Principal Thorpe, were you the father of Lorraine’s baby?’
He shook his head without hesitation. ‘No, officer, I was not.’
‘But you were in love with her?’ she pressed.
‘Oh yes, and I probably still am.’
Ninety-Four
Dawson pushed himself through the backstage chaos of the memorial service. A boys’ choir dressed in black were chattering loudly as two girls attempted to practise the violin.
A smartly dressed teenager barged past with a trombone. He stopped dead as a familiar figure came towards him, her satchel stretched diagonally across her body.
‘Stace, what the bloody hell are you—’
‘I need to talk to you,’ she said, guiding him to the edge of the room.
He took out his phone. ‘That’s what these are for, Stace,’ he said, sarcastically.
‘Yeah if they’re switched on, you moron,’ she replied.
He checked. Damn, he’d run out of charge, again.
‘You sure this is a memorial service?’ Stacey asked.
Dawson saw her point. The level of excitement was palpable, kids running round, eager to perform, take their moment in the spotlight, impress their teachers, peers and parents.
He shook his head. As yet he’d heard no mention of any of the names of their victims.
‘Mrs Forbes came to the station to see you,’ Stacey said.
The name sounded familiar.
‘Harrison Forbes, the third kid who left term part way through.’
‘Got it,’ he said and then opened his eyes wide. ‘She came in to the station?’
‘Oh yeah, and she hasn’t signed any non-disclosure agreement, she’s just terrified that they’ll try and get her son again,’ Stacey said. ‘Apparently it doesn’t end if a kid refuses the—’
‘Whoa, back up, Stace. What do you mean, go after him again?’ Dawson asked.
So far, he’d found a girl who had almost died from a severe asthma attack, a teenager on life support after trying to drink himself to death, and now it looked like his instinct had been right about Harrison Forbes. For a bunch of clubs that weren’t supposed to exist any more they sure were leaving a lot of casualties behind.
‘Hockey accident that ended his career as a long distance runner. He’s in a wheelchair for life. And then a white transit van tries to run the entire family off the road the day they pick him up from hospital. She’s terrified that the Spades will find out where he lives. It’s all about this bloody honour code. If you refuse to join it’s a lifelong stain which—’
‘Oh shit,’ Dawson said, as the events of the week caught up with the words that were coming out of his colleague’s mouth.
‘What?’ Stacey asked.
‘Geoffrey,’ he said, looking around, urgently. ‘Geoffrey Piggott refused the card.’
Ninety-Five
‘So, you’re thinking Thorpe could have murdered Lorraine in a jealous rage?’ Kim clarified with Bryant as they headed towards the concert hall.
‘Don’t you?’
Kim shook her head. ‘Did you detect any rage when he was talking?’
‘To be fair he’s had a few years to calm down.’
Kim shook her head. ‘I see your point, but he was too open about his feelings,’ she said, passing the door to the backstage area.
‘Reverse psychology?’ Bryant suggested.
Kim shrugged. It was possible, but she wasn’t really listening.
‘Did you hear that?’ she asked her colleague as she stopped walking.
‘Err… no, because I was talking to…’ he paused as the call sounded again. ‘But I heard it that time.’
They were right outside the door to the concert preparation area and someone had called for Saffie Winters. Twice.
She strode into the room and headed for the nearest adult. It was Thorpe’s assistant, Nancy, carrying a clipboard and wearing a set of headphones.