An Honest Deceit

by Guy Mankowski

  For a moment I was stumped. Which outfit did he mean?

  ‘The n-nurses outfit, you mean?’ I asked.

  ‘You know, when you got that student those seven GCSE’s. And you agreed to appear at assembly dressed as a nurse. Right?’

  ‘Oh, of course.’

  ‘I’m glad my teachers were a bit quicker off the mark than you!’ he said.

  The audience laughed again. A hollow sound, that rattled in my insides.

  ‘Yeah, I’ve kept that outfit in storage,’ I said. ‘You never know when a student might need that extra push- so I’m not throwing it away just yet.’

  Some titters.

  ‘Great stuff,’ he said, crossing his legs. ‘Now, I watched the show, and I was genuinely impressed by your teaching, Ben. When I was at school my English teacher Mrs. Robinson said I’d never be a high flier, Ben, and it hurt me. It hurt me.’

  He clasped his hands to his chest to illustrate the pain.

  ‘Yeah, well. Look at you now,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah, and look at her. Well you can’t, she’s dead.’

  The audience roared.

  ‘Could be worse,’ I said. ‘She could be on a zero hours contract.’

  The audience kept laughing.

  ‘I like it,’ he said. ‘Topical. And people say teachers can’t be hip. Isn’t that unfair, Ben?’

  ‘Deeply wrong,’ I said, nodding.

  ‘Now tell me Ben,’ he continued, folding his legs. ‘What is it really like being a teacher these days? Because you can’t be strict anymore, can you? And let’s face it, some parents will drop off kids that are right thickies.’

  ‘It depends on the student,’ I said. ‘Marie, who you mentioned, was exceptional. One day during an afternoon detention, out of nowhere, she suddenly gave me this tremendous speech.’ I sat up straight. ‘And it moved me, you know? So I made this silly promise about wearing that outfit if she succeeded and I think that suddenly brought her mission to life. From then on, her goal wasn’t just a private thing for her to slave over on her own. It became an event for everyone to talk about.’ He was nodding. ‘I knew the more she talked about getting me in that nurses outfit,’ I continued, ‘the more clearly she could imagine achieving her goal.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ Peterson said, ‘absolutely brilliant. Now, let’s show the audience a clip.’

  He turned to a screen above our heads, which I hadn’t noticed amongst the fake city scape behind us. I twitched as a reel of my ‘best of moments’- none of which I found particularly funny- were screened. The audience seemed to enjoy it.

  How can we get from here to Marine, I wondered? Behind Peterson, in the wings, I could see Phillip giving me a thumbs up.

  ‘Great stuff,’ Peterson said, turning back to me as the sound faded. ‘But it hasn’t always been happy times, has it Ben? I understand that shortly after that series ended you and your family suffered a great loss?’

  I looked down, shocked by the sudden gear change. ‘Yes. A few months after that series wrapped our beloved daughter, Marine, lost her life on a school trip.’

  The audience gave a collective sob. I felt as if I was in a pantomime. This is it, I thought. It has to happen now.

  ‘And the verdict was that it was an accident? A terrible accident, that’s every parent’s worst nightmare.’

  I could feel the importance of the moment. The camera was there, beaming into every home. The audience were listening. Phillip was poised, expectant.

  ‘It was a nightmare Craig, and to be honest we haven’t woken up from it. I think the main barrier to recovery has been learning that perhaps it wasn’t simply an accident.’

  In the wings I could see Phillip stand up straight, his hand on his chin. The audience had fallen silent. Even Peterson, the consummate professional, seemed surprised by how sharply the tone had changed.

  ‘Okay. Can you tell us more?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Marine was on a field trip, walking along the local moor with the rest of her class,’ I said, weighing my words. ‘We got a call to say that there had been an accident and when we got to the scene we learnt that Marine had taken a serious fall. Shortly after, she lost the battle for her life. She died on that field trip.’

  The words rang out, louder than I had expected. My collar felt tight. I felt the heat of the scorching lights. I wondered what those silent silhouettes in the audience were thinking. I looked over at Phillip. He gestured, frantically, that I should go on.

  ‘I see,’ Peterson said, nodding.

  ‘The member of staff supposed to be looking after Marine at the time said that she broke away from the pack and fell off the cliff edge before he could recover her. But we later heard that he had been previously been found guilty of offences towards young girls. Naturally, we started to question the official account we’d been given of what happened.’

  Peterson nodded. I wondered if I could sense panic in his eyes. In the wings Phillip nodded harder. Push on, I told myself. Don’t stop now, that wasn’t enough.

  ‘I asked the school to look into this allegation during their enquiry. To find out if this temporary member of staff really had been guilty of such crimes in the past. And if so, why had he been employed by the school?’

  ‘And what did you find out?’ Peterson asked, carefully.

  ‘We found out that this man had got CRB clearance under a new name, and that once he had a job at the school he was assigned to the school trip. I have also been told that the school’s headmaster was informed of his past, but still continued to employ him.’

  Peterson looked at the camera. ‘And I suppose that we must stress, at this stage, that this is all alleged.’

  ‘Yes. And it remains only alleged, until it is properly investigated. The big question for us is - what exactly happened to take my daughter so close to the cliff edge in the first place?’

  ‘And so the implication here is that it wasn’t an accident, she was trying to get away from this man?’ Peterson slowly weaved his fingers together. I suddenly had the feeling that I was engaged in a game of chess with him now as well.

  ‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘At this stage it is only a rumor. But what caused even more devastation to my partner and I was the fact that the school did not properly investigate this claim at all. Their enquiry was a whitewash, and they did not even interview the people that I had been assured they would speak to. When I pushed for there to be a proper investigation, suddenly I found myself facing questions about my own Fitness To Practice.’

  I could see, behind Peterson’s eyes, his brain whirring. ‘And you can prove that there were never any questions about your fitness before you had called their professionalism into question?’

  ‘Indeed. Not only that Craig, but since they suspended me, I have heard about various other people who’ve had similar experiences. Having raised a question against an officiating body they too have seen themselves suddenly being scrutinized.’

  ‘A case of tarnish the trouble maker to save their own skin?’

  ‘Exactly. In fact, soon I am having to attend a Formal Fitness To Practice hearing to face what are clearly trumped up charges devised by Paul Kraver, the headmaster of the school.’

  At the mention of Kraver I saw Phillip punch the air. I tried to suppress a smile, as Phillip ground one fist into an open hand.

  ‘And I understand that your partner, Juliette, has organized online a petition about this,’ Peterson said, glancing at the autocue. ‘It’s titled ‘Justice For The Pendleton Family”.

  This was news to me.

  ‘You look surprised, Ben, but it seems your better half has come out fighting here. This petition is online, people, at www.change.org, and it lobbies for the Attorney General to apply to the High Court for a new inquest to be held into Marine’s death. It also lobbies for the Education Secretary to intervene, and have the Fitness To Practice case against you dropped. For there to instead be an investigation into the headmaster who’s allowed this to happen under his wat
ch.’

  I opened my mouth to speak, but could not. Juliette had organized this? I had seen so little of her since the fight had begun, that I had wondered what she’d been up to. I felt a snag in my heart. I had got close to Violet, thinking that she wasn’t there for me. But she had been planning this all along. As I looked up, a screen grab of the online petition was being shown overhead.

  ‘As you can see, at the moment the petition only has fourteen signatures.’ Peterson turned to the audience. ‘Can I take it we will all be adding our names to it tonight?’

  The audience roared a resounding ‘yes’.

  I felt a spasm of relief, a bolt of sheer happiness shooting through me. Peterson leant forward, and the feel of his hand on my shoulder made me bow my head. The audience gave out a loud cry of sympathy. I knew then that Juliette had planned this to be a surprise, knowing it would be the only way for me to look emotionally overwhelmed at exactly the right moment, for us to get the public onboard.

  ‘I appreciate this must be difficult for you,’ Peterson said. ‘But the fight back has now begun.’ He turned to the audience. ‘Hasn’t it?’ he said to them.

  Their spirited response was almost too much to take. I looked up and smiled at them, and I as I did I saw a few of the rows of silhouettes get to their feet and applaud. I could see the faces of mothers, fathers, young students. Earrings, haircuts, trembling smiles. Their expressions exquisite portraits of sympathy, and anger. Smiling, and clapping me.

  ‘I think we should cut to a break,’ Peterson said.

  TWENTY-ONE

  I SAT AT THE BACK of the café, unable to sit still. It wasn’t just the energy of the young staff, as they darted to and fro, that unsettled me. It was the thought of Violet arriving at any moment. As I saw her open the door, smiling from under a pink alice band, I felt a sudden swoop in my stomach.

  With mitten-covered hands she gesticulated to the waiter, ordering us two cups of coffee. I was suddenly conscious of my suit jacket, slightly frayed, and the open necked collar which marked me out from the lurid t-shirts around us. Lithe bodies relaxed into expansive sofas, as their hands tapped at chrome laptops.

  ‘Congratulations, Ben,’ she said, kissing my cheek. ‘I saw the interview. You were so good.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I’m hoping it was the start of something,’ I said.

  She began to unwrap herself, like an elaborately decorated chocolate. I tried to focus on the menu as she settled into the chair opposite me.

  Her eyes dissected me, darting between my face and the menu I was holding with a look of suppressed amusement. I was sure she knew I was just pretending to study it, to try and conceal hide her effect on me. I wondered if she knew how much power she had over me. Over my relationship with Phillip and my family. How had I handed so much of my livelihood over to someone I barely knew, in one night?

  ‘I just read online that the petition has gained over half a million signatures,’ she said. ‘There’s articles in The Times, The Express, from all over the world. The coroner is going to have to tell the police to reopen the enquiry about Marine now. It’s clearly a matter of public interest.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s the public interest that will force her to open it up again,’ I said, smiling at a waitress with the pink candyfloss hair. She placed the steaming coffees in front of us, small wisps of heat oozing from the foamy surfaces. I waited until she’d departed, wiping her hands on her apron.

  ‘Bracewell says the reason the coroner will re-open the case is because new evidence has come to light,’ I said.

  ‘You found evidence that they’re attacking you?’

  Her question seemed almost defensive. I weighed up the way it had been made, decided to think nothing of it.

  ‘I didn’t find evidence, no. It was Marine’s teacher, Katy. On the school trip she was a little disturbed by Walker, and in the aftermath of it I told her about Kraver forcing me to take leave. I think she got the sense that something was being hidden. She doesn’t seem the bold type, but she must be. She started to surreptitiously do some digging, using what she knew about Walker’s past. Eventually she found a photograph from his school yearbook. Except that in it he isn’t David Walker, he’s called ‘Toby Young.’’

  ‘So he changed his name. So what?’

  ‘She also found a clipping from his local Gazette, which has a picture of a teacher, called Toby Young, above an article about how he was found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl in his class. My guess is that there are more cases we don’t know about.’

  ‘How on earth did he get past the Criminal Records check to work at your school then?’

  ‘Perhaps the school didn’t do its homework, and he just slipped through the net. Or perhaps there’s a little more to it?’

  She blinked hard, processing the input. ‘It can’t be that easy to get CRB clearance after you’ve changed your name.’

  I sipped. ‘I looked into it. The guidelines state that the school must see the ‘appropriate paperwork from the applicant’ before they can support a name change.’

  She laughed. ‘Like you found that out,’ she said, stirring the spoon in her cup.

  ‘It wasn’t me,’ I said. ‘It was Juliette.’

  Violet blanched at my mention of a name which we had studiously avoided using. ‘Course it was,’ she said. ‘So I can only assume this Walker fella didn’t have paperwork to support his application? Otherwise they’d have been able to find out about his past.’

  ‘Yes. In which case they should have had a discussion with him, about why he wanted to change his name.’

  ‘They must have done a pretty sloppy job.’ She curled her hands around her cup.

  ‘Perhaps,’ I said. ‘But the most powerful bit of evidence Katy found is an email from a member of staff, sent to Kraver, telling him the rumors about Walker. Asking him to investigate them.’

  ‘She’s a right little detective, this Katy woman. Does she realize she’s risking her job?’

  ‘I think she does, which is why she was hesitant coming forward at first. She still doesn’t want me to blow her cover. I think she feels guilty that she didn’t do more on the day Marine fell. I suspect she’s been working under the radar to try and stop her conscience needling her.’

  ‘And let me guess, Kraver didn’t properly investigate Walker even after his past was flagged up?’

  Violet selected some sugar from the pot in front of her, and poured it onto the foam. I watched it float for a while, before invisible seepage broke the surface.

  ‘Well, as Kraver had already employed Walker, he knew that investigating him would only cause trouble if something was found. So he just fobbed off the email, and kept Walker at the school.’

  ‘Sounds pretty fishy to me,’ she said. ‘Surely he could see a few steps ahead and work out that sooner or later he’d be found responsible. So why would he take the risk?’

  ‘I’ve thought about that. Either it was arrogance, or perhaps Kraver can’t afford not to cover for Walker. I’m wondering if perhaps Walker has something on him.’

  ‘I’m sure you mentioned to me that he was very suddenly brought in as a headmaster? And that he’s already made a lot of unusual decisions?’

  ‘That’s right, yeah. For one, it’s rare for a headmaster to come in with a background in media, rather than teaching. There’s this new campus opening soon, and with this recent government move to privatize more education I think he was brought in to help develop the school as a franchise. A money-making venture.’

  ‘Sounds like he has friends in high places, otherwise he wouldn’t have been appointed at all. So then perhaps he has to take on members of staff that he doesn’t want to take on. Perhaps he has to be seen to defend decisions that privately he wouldn’t stand by? It happens more and more when commerce comes into the public services. In which case, Ben, you’re going to need to be conscious of the fact that he could have support from some pretty powerful people.’

  I nodded. ‘So this
next hearing could be a case of ‘strong force meets immovable object’.’

  She liked the analogy. ‘Still, you’ve got a few surprises up your sleeve now thanks to this Katy, haven’t you?’

  ‘I hope they will be surprises,’ I said, ‘but I can’t help wishing the next few days would just pass so I can get it over with. Bracewell is sure the Education Secretary will have to intervene now he’s been lobbied so powerfully by Juliette’s petition. I’m hoping that he will, and he’ll say the hearing should get cancelled.’

  ‘I’m sorry Ben, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.’ She looked at my hand, then moved to hold it, before restraining herself. ‘If he did that the Education Secretary would be seriously undermining the school. I know it will be tough, but you’re going to have to face up to it. Can you do that?’

  I nodded, once, but on the second nod was unable to move my head. My jaw locked. When she smiled, in sympathy, I cracked and pushed my hands through my hair. ‘Oh god,’ I said. ‘First the TV interview, now this. This is going to be so much worse, isn’t it? Because in this hearing Kraver is going to go all out to damage my name. If a formal panel find me guilty of something, that will stay on my record permanently. No one will employ me for the rest of my life.’

  Violet winced. As she did sunlight from outside streamed through her hair, illuminating its tips. ‘I’m not going to lie to you, Ben, it probably will be dead tricky. But you have the people on your side now. And you need to be charismatic enough to channel their energy. Which of course you can be.’

  She smiled, and I felt a tingle of pleasure in my jaw.

  ‘What do you mean?’ I gulped at the cooling coffee.

  ‘Well, you need to find a way to be the focal point for the anger of all them people. So that when you stand up there it’s not Ben versus Kraver, its every single person who’s backed you versus him.’

  ‘And how exactly do I do that? I’m a teacher, not Martin Luther King!’

  ‘Well, if you want to get back to teaching it looks like you’ll need to be a bit like Martin Luther King. Have you ever watched Prime Minister’s Questions?’