‘There would have been signs of a struggle, and more of Leon’s blood if he was injured,’ she replied, brushing off my suggestion.
‘I think we should still consider it,’ Singh began, but Forest cut him off.
‘No, I’m sorry Rav. I know you want to think this boy is innocent, but we have to work on the likelihood that he killed his teacher.’
Neither of them spoke again until Sasha returned with Bradley trailing behind her. I was glad of something to break the heavy tension in the room.
‘Hi Bradley,’ Singh said, giving the boy a tight smile. ‘We’d like to ask you a few more questions about Leon, if that’s okay?’
Bradley shrugged and slouched into a seat. Have you found him yet?
‘No, we haven’t, and the longer he’s missing the more worried we get. That’s why it’s really important that you answer our questions as fully as you can. Do you understand?’
Yes, I’m not stupid, he replied, rolling his eyes. I felt like his attitude had become more pronounced since Saturday, and I wondered what had caused the change in him. I gave Sasha a look and I realised she was wondering the same thing.
‘We’ve heard that you and Leon hadn’t been getting on well lately. Is that right?’
Bradley shrugged again. We weren’t best mates.
‘We heard it was a bit more serious than that.’
We had one fight, okay? Just one. That’s all.
I could see straight through the bravado, and I knew Forest and Singh could too. I had no idea if they’d manage to bring Bradley round, though.
‘What was the fight about?’ Singh asked.
Don’t know. Stupid shit. Doesn’t matter now.
‘Why doesn’t it matter?’
‘Because he’s fucking missing, isn’t he?’ Bradley used his voice as he signed, and it broke on the last two words and suddenly tears were streaming down his face. He scrubbed at them angrily with the cuff of his jumper, as if they were to blame for all his problems. Sasha reached out a hand to lay it on Bradley’s shoulder but he twitched out of her reach, so she didn’t try again.
We sat there for a moment while the boy composed himself, then Singh sat back before asking his next question.
‘Are you worried about Leon?’
Of course I’m worried. He’s my friend and he’s missing.
‘A minute ago you told us you weren’t really friends.’
Bradley exhaled sharply. We weren’t, for a while. But then we made up. It was okay again.
‘Can you tell us what the problem was?’ Singh asked, pushing gently.
Bradley hesitated before replying. I didn’t like some of the shit he was looking at online. Kian was looking at it over his shoulder and started asking questions. It bothered me. But after a while I realised I was being a dick about it.
‘What sort of things was he looking at?’
His cheeks reddened. Porn. Chat rooms. That sort of stuff.
‘And you didn’t want your brother looking at it?’
No, he’s too young for that crap. And besides … He stopped signing and looked at Sasha.
I’m not here to judge, Sasha said. I’m just here to make sure the police respect your rights during the interview. Whatever you need to tell them, tell them.
Bradley grimaced. It was gay porn. Leon’s gay.
The detectives glanced at each other as Bradley confirmed what both Samira and Sasha had told them.
Wait, you already knew that, didn’t you? the boy asked as he noted the lack of surprise on their faces. Shit. Well now you know, I was the one being a dickhead. I wasn’t comfortable with Leon being gay, but eventually Kian was the one who made me see that I was the one in the wrong. So, we made up. I have no idea what happened the other night.
‘Did other people know that Leon’s gay?’
Depends if Cassie found out. If she knows, everyone will know. If she doesn’t, it might still be a secret from most people.
‘Do you think Cassie would have spread gossip about Leon?’
She spreads gossip about everyone, whether it’s true or not. He looked up at Sasha. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I can’t imagine her keeping something like that to herself. She’s … He paused for a moment and pulled a face, as if trying to find the best way to word something. Cassie isn’t very popular, which means she doesn’t have much influence. If she was spreading something trying to get people to pile onto Leon, they’d probably be pretty sympathetic instead. This is a small school, and we kind of have to stick together.
‘If Leon was struggling with something, who do you think he would have gone to for support?’ Singh asked, changing tack slightly.
Maybe Mr Wilkinson, Bradley replied. I know he helped him with some of his science work when he was getting really stuck with it. He tutored Leon after school for a couple of weeks, maybe three, until he was really sure of the topics we were on at the time. But then Leon decided he didn’t need the help any more and stopped the sessions. I think he gets on well with Miss Farriday too, so maybe he would have talked to her?
I remembered Liz Marcek telling the detectives about Steve helping Leon with his homework, and I wondered if there was more to it. Why had Leon stopped his sessions? Was it just because he didn’t need them any more, or had something else happened?
‘Thanks Bradley,’ Singh was saying. ‘Is there anything else you’ve thought of that Leon said or did on Friday that might help us?’
The boy shook his head, and the detectives dismissed him.
‘So, we still have no idea what might have happened to make Leon leave the cabin that night,’ Singh said.
‘Being gay makes him more of a target for bullying,’ Forest pointed out. ‘There could have been something more going on between Bradley and Leon. We only have his word for it that they’d put the animosity behind them.’
‘He seemed pretty credible to me,’ Singh replied, ‘but you’re right, it’s still a possibility that Bradley or someone else made Leon feel so uncomfortable that he ran away. Though in such a close-knit group of students you would have thought that the staff would have noticed something that serious.’
I had been signing all of this for Sasha, as she was still in the room.
Teenagers can be very secretive, she told them, interrupting. But Leon has been through a lot in his life and he’s a resilient young man. For it to get bad enough for him to run away, I think that level of bullying would have been picked up.
Forest nodded. ‘We won’t rule anything out just yet, but we need to be considering other motives as well. Right, we need to find Mike Lowther and speak to him. Paige, you can take a break.’
I followed Sasha out of the room, keen to be away from there when Mike appeared.
Do you want to come to the staffroom and have a coffee? Sasha asked me.
Sure, I replied, having nothing else to do.
We walked back towards the main entrance before turning down a corridor off the entrance hall, opposite the head and deputy head’s offices. We passed the admin office, then went through a door on the left into a high-ceilinged room with several groups of low padded chairs.
The room was empty, so I chose a seat and sat down while Sasha made us drinks. I had never been in a school staffroom before. When I was a child, it was the sort of place that was always mysterious and out of bounds. Now that I saw the room, I was disappointed for my seven-year-old self. The walls were painted cream, and peeling in several places. There were a few anti-bullying posters on the wall, as well as some outdated flyers from the local branch of the National Deaf Children’s Society. A noticeboard on the far wall contained pictures of students with severe allergies or other medical needs, and the other walls were bare. A sheet of A4 was stuck on the back of the door, and on closer inspection it seemed to be a sign-up sheet for the staff Christmas night out.
Sasha brought our drinks over and sat opposite me, and I could tell there was something she wanted to talk about.
How long have you worked fo
r the police?
I’ve been freelance for about a year now, and I circulated my details to the emergency services and hospitals when I stopped doing agency work, but I first worked a proper police investigation in February. I didn’t go into the details of what had happened. It had all been too close to home and I’d spent the last few months trying to forget.
Sasha cocked her head on one side. So, you’re not with an agency?
No.
But you don’t work for the police full time either?
I shook my head. No. I went freelance to try and work short-notice jobs, but it does mean I’m never sure what work is coming from one week to the next.
I could see she was wondering why I would leave the protection of an agency, and I tried to explain.
When my dad died, my mum and sister were stuck in the hospital without any way of understanding what was happening. The staff tried to get an interpreter, but the earliest they could get someone was in four days’ time. Until I arrived at the hospital, they weren’t even sure what was happening. A nurse called me and told me my dad had died from a massive heart attack, but when I got there I was the one who had to tell my mum and sister. Nobody had wanted to try and communicate it to them, even by writing it down. Then I had to speak to the doctor and find out what had happened, and interpret it for Mum, while I was coping with the shock and grief myself. A relative shouldn’t have to be the one to do that.
Then my mum got cancer, I continued. I went to all her appointments with her, and I was happy to do it, but that meant I was the one who had to tell her the treatments weren’t working. I had to tell my own mum she was dying. It hurt so much to have to be the one who did that, while still trying to process the idea myself. Does that make sense?
Sasha nodded. It does.
How often are you here? I asked, moving the focus of the conversation away from myself. Sasha was a relative stranger and I didn’t know why I’d felt the need to share that much personal information.
Normally once a week, she replied, but while Leon is missing I’m going to try and prioritise the school. The full-time residential kids have all had a rough start in life, for one reason or another, and now they’re faced with a missing friend and a murdered teacher. That’s a lot to deal with.
Do you have any theories about Leon?
Sasha’s mouth twisted into a grimace and she shook her head. I’m really worried about him. Things have changed, recently. He’s never been the sort of kid who bottles things up, you know? He’s always been open with me, happy to discuss how he’s feeling, things that are bothering him. I’ve never known him be afraid of going to an adult for help. But lately he’s been quite secretive, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s related to what happened at the weekend. I’d put it down to normal teenage behaviour, but now I’m really worried that something might have happened to him. Do we even know for certain that he ran away? I know his stuff was missing, but what if there’s something more sinister going on?
I could see the fear on her face was genuine, and I was suddenly glad that someone cared so much for these kids. Living in a children’s home must be a difficult way to grow up, especially when it was also your school, so you never had a break from either. For Leon, having been through such a traumatic event with the death of his mum, I imagined it was vitally important for him to know that there were people here who cared deeply about what happened to him. But how well did Sasha really know him?
I wanted to ask her more about her work, but the door opened and DS Singh stuck his head around it.
‘Paige, would you mind coming back, please? We’ve just received some new information.’
Wondering what it could be, I told Sasha what was happening and she nodded. Nice to chat with you.
As I left the room I glanced back, to see Sasha watching me with a thoughtful look on her face.
Chapter 14
‘This is our BSL interpreter, Paige Northwood,’ Singh told the woman sitting in front of us. We hadn’t interviewed Jessica Farriday so far, because she hadn’t been in school until today. I smiled and interpreted Singh’s introduction.
Northwood? she asked. Are you related to Anna Northwood?
She’s my sister, I replied with a nod.
We went to school together. How sad is that? I trained as a teacher then came back to the same school. She gave a half-hearted laugh, then her eyes filled with tears. Her face was already red and puffy, so I assumed these weren’t the first tears of the day. Her black hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and she wore a dark blue tracksuit with the school’s crest on it.
‘Thank you for coming to speak to us, Miss Farriday,’ Singh said. ‘We’d like to ask you a few questions about Steve Wilkinson, if that’s okay?’
Jessica nodded, picking at a nail that was already bitten down to the fingertip.
‘You seem to be very distressed about his death,’ Forest said, and I winced slightly at her harsh tone of voice. What was the new information they’d received?
The PE teacher smiled sadly. I suppose there’s no point in trying to keep it secret now. Steve and I had been seeing each other for a couple of months.
Ah, I thought. That was what the detectives had found out.
We were keeping it quiet because Steve didn’t want any of the other staff to think it was inappropriate, or that he was abusing his position, Jessica continued, swallowing hard. And some of them would have been bound to accuse him of favouritism. It was easier to hide it. If things had got more serious, maybe it would have been different, but it was still early days. She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and wiped her nose. I said goodbye to him on Friday afternoon, just before they went on the trip. That was the last time I saw him. I went home after that, and he said he’d call me on Saturday if he got the chance.
‘Did he say anything to you about any concerns? Anything about the trip?’ Forest pushed.
No, nothing. In fact, he told me he was looking forward to it.
‘You hadn’t made any plans to see him once they were back on Sunday?’
She shook her head. I’d been to his a couple of times, but I was busy this weekend. It was my future sister-in-law’s hen party on Saturday. We were out for most of the day and I stayed over at hers. I didn’t hear the news from Liz until Sunday morning.
DS Singh noted down the other woman’s name and address, presumably to check Jessica’s alibi.
‘What about anyone who might want to harm Steve?’ Forest asked. ‘Can you think of anything he said that suggested he might have an enemy?’
She shook her head. Never. I mean … She bit her lip, then her gaze fell on the closed door to the corridor before she looked back at the detectives. Mike is my ex. He’s definitely the jealous type, and if he’d found out about me and Steve, maybe he might have said something to Steve. But I’m certain he didn’t know.
I caught my breath at the mention of Mike, then felt irritated at myself. What did it matter if he’d dated one of his colleagues? Had he treated her as badly as he’d treated me, or had he learnt his lesson?
‘Why are you so certain?’ Singh asked. I thought I heard a note of scepticism in his voice, but I had a feeling I knew what Jessica’s answer would be.
Because he would have kicked off the moment he found out. He’s not the sort of person to bide his time and let it stew. Unless Steve had some mad idea to cosy up to Mike in the middle of a trip and tell him about us, there’s absolutely no way Mike had anything to do with it.
I knew exactly what she meant, and I could vouch for this side of Mike’s personality. He found it hard to keep secrets, and he couldn’t often bite his tongue when there was something he wanted to say. He usually reacted to anything that wound him up before he had the chance to think about it. There were times he could control himself, however, and I knew that those times were when he was most dangerous.
‘And you’re certain he didn’t do that?’ Forest said, even more sceptical than Singh had been.
Absol
utely. He wouldn’t have told Mike without consulting me first, and he certainly wouldn’t have done it in the middle of a trip, while he was supervising students. Steve would never have been so unprofessional. More tears were running down Jessica’s face now, and she looked desperate to defend Steve’s reputation. From what I’ve been told, they wouldn’t have had time to talk about it on Saturday morning, so that only leaves Friday. And when I say Mike wouldn’t have been able to keep his anger under control, I mean if he’d found out about it on Friday he would have killed Steve on Friday.
There was a pause as the weight of this statement settled. ‘So, you think Mike is capable of killing someone?’ Singh asked softly.
Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. No, no, that’s not what I meant. I don’t think he could. He’s got a temper, but it would never go that far.
I wanted to agree with her, but then I reminded myself that I’d never thought Mike would go as far as he did when we were together.
‘Is he impulsive?’
Yes, but he can control himself.
‘Has he ever been violent towards you? Abusive?’
I found myself holding my breath as I waited for her answer.
No, she signed, but I didn’t like his attitude towards me. He could be quite domineering. We were only together for a few months, and that’s why I ended it. When I dumped him he smashed up a few tennis racquets in the PE stores, but I think he just needed to take his anger out on something. He broke equipment, turned his anger onto an object. He never lifted a finger to me.
I let out the breath I’d been holding. That sounded more like the Mike I knew, in some ways. He had plenty of self-control when he wanted to. A small voice in the back of my mind told me Jess Farriday was obviously stronger and smarter than me, she could see the trouble coming a long way off and got out while she could, but I silenced it.
‘What can you tell us about Steve’s relationship with Leon?’ Forest asked, giving Jess a searching look.
What do you mean? They were teacher and student, Jess replied with a shrug.
‘We know that Steve tutored Leon in science for a short time. Did he ever talk to you about the boy, about any problems he might have had?’
Silent Night Page 11
