That was easy, she replied with a harsh laugh. I was on the interview panel, and I knew I could ask questions that made him look like the best candidate. The arrogant bastard thought he’d walked it because of his own skills, but I had never intended for the governors to choose anyone else.
Once he was in the post, you started messaging the students, looking for one to groom, and saved the messages to Steve’s school account. You had a problem, though, didn’t you? I looked at Cassie, and Liz followed my gaze.
She saw me, with the video cameras, Liz told me, her face twisted with spite. I didn’t know if she’d realised exactly what she’d seen. She’s not very bright. But I knew I needed to keep her on my side. She’s been useful, though.
I shook my head in disbelief. Did you think she’d keep your secrets forever? Even after you killed Steve?
I didn’t always intend to kill him, she said nonchalantly. I was just going to get him arrested for grooming, at first. But then he was here, in this school, my school, trying to change it, behaving like the arrogant bastard he has always been, and I couldn’t stand it. Liz’s eyes burned with fury and I felt my heart rate increase with fear at what she might do next.
And you thought you could frame Leon for his murder?
Or Cassie, she replied with a callous shrug. Either would do. Leon made it easier for me, though. He stumbled on Steve’s body and picked up the knife. He cut himself. If he hadn’t seen me it would have been easier. She shook her head, as if she were just talking about a minor inconvenience in her life, not a serious crime.
While I had been trying to keep her distracted, I was planning. Could I grab Cassie and make it out of the room before Liz reached us? The room was small, and Cassie’s chair was blocking Liz’s path out of the room. Putting my hands on Cassie’s shoulders, I applied enough pressure to slide the chair backwards slightly and wedge it in the gap. Noticing what I was doing, Liz lunged forwards, but I slipped my hands under Cassie’s arms and hauled her towards the door, flinging it open and dragging the girl into the corridor.
I heard a clatter as Liz came after us, and a grunt as she gave up and climbed over the bed. I wasn’t used to carrying heavy weights, and Cassie was nearly the same height as me. She was partly conscious and managed to bear some of her own weight, but I’d only got her as far as the communal area when Liz burst out of Cassie’s room. Pushing Cassie towards a sofa, I grabbed the huge TV and launched it into Liz’s path, slowing her down once more. Suddenly Singh was there, grabbing Cassie and trying to lift her. From outside, I heard sirens, and I got hold of Cassie’s other arm, helping Singh to get her outside, where Sasha and Leon were waiting, the lights of two police cars racing down the drive behind them.
Chapter 40
Thursday 6th December
The atmosphere in the school was a sombre one when we entered the building the next day. There was a feeling of relief at the police having caught the culprit, but it was overlaid with the shock of finding out who had been responsible. I had insisted on being present when they interviewed Leon, despite Forest wanting to get another interpreter and grumbling about me getting myself involved again.
After all Leon had been through, it was agreed that it was best to take his statement in a familiar environment. Sasha met us at the door to the residence and let us in.
He’s doing okay, considering, but I don’t know how well he slept last night, she explained, ushering us all into the building. I stayed over in one of the staff bedrooms, for a bit more reassurance, and he asked me if he could keep his door open. I’m going to arrange to get him some counselling.
Sasha took us into the library, where Leon was already waiting. He smiled when he saw me.
Thank you for helping me, he said. I don’t even know your name.
I’m Paige, I replied. I’m the interpreter.
You’re not a police officer?
I shook my head. No, I wasn’t even supposed to be there yesterday, I told him with a wry smile and a sideways look at DS Singh.
‘I’m glad you were,’ Singh told me. It had transpired that an argument had broken out between Lincolnshire and Humberside police forces over who should be attending, which meant they were delayed in getting to Liz’s house. Apparently, DI Forest had gone ballistic, and for once I wished I’d been there to see it.
‘Leon, we’d like to ask you some questions,’ Forest began once we were all seated. ‘We’d like you to think back to the day you went on the school trip and tell us what happened.’
Leon sighed and sat back in his seat. I feel so stupid, he signed. I’d believed all along that Joe was real, that he cared about me. I should have realised it was too good to be true. He knew exactly what to say, you know? When I was down, or whatever, he could always say the right thing to cheer me up.
I’d been messaging him that evening, but only had a couple of replies from him. We were supposed to meet up on Friday evening, but he cancelled on me and said he’d see me the next morning instead. I couldn’t sleep, so I got up in the middle of the night and had a drink, but Mr Wilkinson found me in the kitchen and asked what was wrong. I made up something about falling out with Bradley and he was really nice about it.
The boy sighed again and shook his head. First thing the next morning I snuck out and went to the cricket pavilion, then I got a message from him saying he’d be there soon. It was absolutely freezing, and my coat didn’t really keep me warm, but I waited for a couple of hours. I texted him, but I didn’t get a reply, then when I tried a video call it wouldn’t connect. That’s when I realised he wasn’t coming. That maybe he’d been lying to me all along.
Leon covered his face with his hands for a moment, then continued. I was so fucking mad, you know? But I was embarrassed mostly. I know the others had been messaging Joe too, but I was the one who fell for him. I was the one who made the plan to meet up with him. He never wanted to video chat; I thought he was shy or something, but now I know the truth it seems so obvious. I didn’t know what to do, because by then I knew people would have been looking for me. If I went back to the cabin they’d ask me where I’d been, but I didn’t really have any other option. So, I picked up my bag and went back outside.
‘What happened when you left the pavilion?’ Singh asked.
I wandered around in the snow for a while. It was coming down really heavily, and I couldn’t work out which way it was back to the cabin. I was just beginning to panic when I saw Mr Wilkinson in the distance. He was walking towards a stand of trees, and he had his phone out.
‘Did you see anyone else at that point?’ Forest asked.
Not then, no. It took me a while to get to the spot where I’d seen him, because of the snow. And when I did, he was already dead.
‘Tell us what you saw.’
He was lying on the ground with blood all around him. I went up to him and I touched him, but I could tell he was dead. His eyes were open and he wasn’t breathing. Leon shuddered at the memory. I don’t even know what I was thinking, but I picked up the knife and I cut myself. I was trying to stop the bleeding when I turned around, and Miss Marcek was standing there. She looked at Mr Wilkinson, then at me, and I knew it must have looked like I killed him. So, I ran. He shrugged. What else could I do? I didn’t want her to blame it on me just because she’d seen me there.
‘Did you wonder why she was there? She hadn’t come with you on the trip.’
I didn’t even think about that straight away, he replied, shaking his head as if he was annoyed with himself. Then when I did finally realise, I knew she must have been the one who killed him, but I still couldn’t go to the police. I know what people think about kids who are in care, that we’re all rough and just make trouble. And after what I did to my dad, who would you have believed – me or her?
The detectives didn’t answer, and I knew what they were thinking. They each liked to think they would have listened to Leon, but when faced with the plausible explanations the deputy head would have come up with, would they have be
lieved him?
I went to Samira’s house, because I knew she’d hide me without asking too many questions, he continued. She was scared, but I told her it’d be okay. Her parents are away and her brother is never at home. It was actually pretty fun, he said wistfully. But I thought the police would solve it quickly and I could come home.
‘I’m sorry it took us so long,’ Singh replied, and I could see from his face that he meant it.
I think Miss Marcek worked out where I was when she saw Samira call me on the day Mr Achembe was killed. Leon grimaced. Samira was really scared, I don’t think she noticed Miss Marcek was behind her when we were on video chat.
I remembered Liz walking down the drive towards me. At the time, I’d assumed she’d been up to check the road, but really she must have been arriving back after kidnapping Leon from Samira’s house. There had been plenty of time for her to slip away while the police were interviewing other staff members. The snow had been so bad by the time she returned, though, she wouldn’t have been able to get her car all the way to the school. She must have abandoned it and walked the rest of the way.
I was in Samira’s room when Miss Marcek turned up, grabbed me and shoved me into her car, Leon continued. She threw my bag into a bush, but I’d dropped my phone in the hallway so she couldn’t get it, and say anything pretending to be me. When we got to her house she locked me in the summerhouse. I asked her why she didn’t just kill me, and she said she had to wait for the right time.
Singh had told me earlier that Liz Marcek had confessed to planning to kill Leon and pin all the murders on Cassie by faking a suicide, making her leave a note about what she’d done.
Why did she do it? Leon asked, his eyes wide. Why did she do all of this?
The detectives looked at each other, obviously wondering how much they could tell him, but Sasha got there first.
She blamed Mr Wilkinson for her brother’s death. Mr Achembe found some deleted messages she’d sent to Cassie and confronted her about it, so she killed him to stop him telling the police.
Leon nodded sadly, accepting this explanation. It would all be in the papers and online soon enough, so it made sense to at least tell him why he’d gone through such an ordeal.
We left the residence and went back over to the main building, where Jane Villiers was waiting for us in the head teacher’s office.
‘Now the case is solved I thought I could reclaim my old office,’ she explained.
‘Are you back for good?’ I asked.
‘The governors asked me to come in for now, as an interim head until the two management posts can be advertised. However, before that happens I think we’ll have a battle to keep the school open. I know there have already been some parents indicating that they will be sending their children elsewhere, and Ofsted will be paying us a visit very soon.’ She looked down at her old desk sadly. ‘Many times in the last few months I’ve wished to be back here, but I never would have wanted it at the expense of someone else’s life. Poor Saul. I was the one who got him involved. I feel responsible.’
‘You’re not responsible for anything Liz Marcek did,’ Singh said firmly. ‘She chose her own course of action, and nothing you did could have prevented it.’
‘If I’d been included in the interview process for my replacement, perhaps I could have,’ Jane countered.
‘I don’t think the death of Liz’s brother would have been something Steve Wilkinson advertised. She didn’t tell anyone else about it, so I doubt she would have told you either,’ Forest replied.
‘How did she do it?’ Jane asked. ‘Not the murders, but all the sneaking around? Getting Cassie involved, preying on the students like that.’
‘Manipulating Cassie was easy,’ Singh replied. ‘All it took was some attention and a few gifts, and the girl would do anything for her. Liz wanted to find a way to get revenge on Steve, so she set up the messages. Over the course of a couple of months, she tried different angles with each student, until she found which one of them could be led down the path leading to a relationship. Cassie was roped in to help the others trust Joe. She never knew the idea was to get Steve fired, and most likely arrested. As it was, Steve found the files Liz had saved on his computer and showed them to Liz before she could reveal them – I expect her plan was to “discover” that he’d been grooming a pupil and have him removed. He decided his best course of action was to go to the governors on the Monday, showing them the messages and explaining that he wasn’t responsible, never for one minute expecting that she would follow them up to Normanby Hall and kill him. When Mike called her to tell her about Leon disappearing she was already nearby. She just waited a while before coming back into the park and pretending she’d rushed up there.’
Jane Villiers shook her head. ‘My job now is to try and save the school, for the sake of the students. I don’t want to see any of those five go into a children’s home. This is their home, and I am going to fight for them.’
I didn’t doubt her determination, and I hoped the school would survive the fallout from what had gone on here. One woman’s blind hatred, and desire for revenge, had led to so much damage.
Singh and I walked out together, leaving Forest to take a phone call.
‘You solved your first case as DS, then,’ I said to him.
He gave me a wry smile. ‘Did I? I think you did, when you realised only the killer could have given us Leon’s phone number. Without that, I think we’d still be clutching at straws.’
‘Well, it doesn’t matter how you got there. It’s Leon we really need to thank. If he hadn’t told us about Liz’s plan to kill Cassie, we might not have got here in time. How is she?’
‘She’s recovering,’ Singh replied. ‘The hospital wanted to keep her in for a couple of days. Liz gave her a sedative, just enough to get her in the car and take her back to her house.’
‘Good. I hope she gets some counselling. It can’t have been good for her, having Liz mess with her head like that for months.’
He nodded then took my hand and squeezed it.
‘Paige, I …’ He stopped.
‘What?’
‘I was really worried, when I realised you’d gone in there alone. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.’
I looked at him, and remembered how relaxed I’d felt the other night when I fell asleep on him. Now we were facing each other in broad daylight, all I felt was confusion. I gently pulled my hand away from his.
My phone buzzed, breaking the awkward silence. It was a message from Max, asking if he could come over that night. I hesitated before replying, but then told him he could. I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to decide what I wanted, and I’d better make my mind up quickly. When I looked back up, Forest had come back out of the school and was gesturing to Singh.
‘There’s been some sort of incident at the football ground in Grimsby,’ she told him. He gave me a fleeting smile then turned around and walked back to join her. I stood there in the car park and watched them drive away, picturing the two potential paths my life could go down from here, and not knowing which to take. I’d come close to danger more than once, and now I was starting to think I knew what I really wanted from my life.
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Acknowledgements
Writing the second book in a series is far harder than writing the first one! Huge thanks are due to many people for the support, advice and encouragement I’ve received during this process. At the time of writing these acknowledgements, we’re eleven weeks into the UK lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and life has b
een rather strange. I’ve been very lucky to be able to continue with my writing without too much difficulty, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without a lot of support.
My amazing agent, Juliet Mushens, who is eternally supportive and seems to understand exactly what I need and when I need it.
My wonderful editor, Tilda McDonald, who has taken my story and elevated it to something far more than I thought it could be, and who has given me confidence in my ideas. Also Beth Wickington, for joining Tilda in the editing process and complimenting me far more than I felt I deserved!
Sabah Khan and Ellie Pilcher, for publicity and marketing respectively – you do so much work behind the scenes, and even though I didn’t get to do many events this year, I can’t wait to see what we have in store in the future. Rebecca Fortuin for her stellar work on the audiobook, particularly for ensuring we had d/Deaf representation in this format. For production and sales: Catriona Beamish, Caroline Bovey, Kelly Webster, Jean Marie Kelly, Emily Gerbner, Charlotte Cross and Peter Borcsok.
Thank you to Sarah Whittaker for another stunning cover, and Rhian McKay for copyedits (it seems I have terrible aim when highlighting sections to be italicised!).
Friends and family have been invaluable, providing everything from cheerleading to childcare, and it certainly takes more than a village to get a book written! Thank you to: Hannah Bowman, Kate Davie, Kayleigh Christopher, Becky Page, Monica Warren, Jen Clapp, Mette Thobro, Vic Logan, David Bishop, Liz King, Kirsty Holmes, Shane Kilbee, Jo Binks, Debi Alper, Ruth Cheesley, Lizzie Monaghan, Becki Rothwell, Jillian Cranmer, Ange Robinson, Gemma Hall, Lynsey Lowry – so many people have supported me, believed in me, and recommended my books to others, and I am immensely grateful. If I’ve forgotten anyone, please forgive me!
Silent Night Page 31
