An Honest Deceit

by Guy Mankowski

  I nodded. ‘They just tend to shout at each other though, don’t they?’

  She smiled. ‘True, but there is more to it than that. You ever notice who comes out on top? During the days of Blair and Cameron, it was always the person who channelled the cheers of their supporters who came out on top. The person with the glint in their eye, who looks like they love the thrill of the fight. That glint may well be artificial, Ben, but you avoid tapping into the power of your supporters at your own peril.’

  ‘This Kraver is pretty overpowering. He has the knack of giving his opinions like their facts, and people seem to just let him.’

  ‘Then it is even more important that you do what I’m saying.’

  ‘So what do I do, print out the all tweets that have been written about me and distribute them at the door?’

  She laughed. ‘You can’t print tweets out, Ben. You’re not exactly Mr. Current Affairs, are you? You should look online and see what people are saying about your case, though. I think you’d be pleasantly surprised.’

  She took her laptop out of her rucksack, placed it on the table, and opened the shiny slab. Violet squinted behind me, at a wall where I noticed a Wi-Fi password was scrawled, in green chalk.

  ‘I will,’ I said. ‘Because if this hearing ends with Kraver winning, and me getting banned from teaching, I won’t be able to raise the money to pay Bracewell’s bills. Our life will be over, in so many ways. Right now it does feel a bit like everyone is putting more and more chips on the table, and it all depends on what happens at this one hearing. And judging from what happened at the last one, I know Kraver will play dirty.’

  ‘He’ll be planning other ways to attack you too,’ she said, not meeting my eye. ‘You mark my words. He has the backing of quite a complex organisation behind him, and the fight will happen on his turf. Kraver is designing the whole battleground on which this conflict takes place. The setting, the language used in its administration - everything.’

  ‘Well that’s why I’m worried.’ I said. ‘In the last hearing, Kraver got to decide who was on the panel, how long they spoke, and even what made it onto the minutes. This hearing is formal, so he’ll have even more weapons to bring out.’

  ‘You think he can pick the panel?’ she asked, leaning forward and cupping her face in her hands. The light caught her eyes, and their distinct colour engaged me for a moment too long. I focused myself.

  ‘Well, officially, Kraver doesn’t get to choose who’s on the panel,’ I said. ‘It has to be a mix of teachers and non-teachers.’

  ‘So, if it becomes apparent that Kraver has planted someone on the panel to do his dirty work, you and Bracewell need to notice that and fight against it. I think you need to change the terms of the enquiry and turn the spotlight back onto Kraver. Let him see how he likes a taste of his own medicine.’ She leant closer to the laptop and started typing. ‘Now, let me show you what they’re saying online.’

  ‘Before you do,’ I said, ‘how exactly do you think I can give him a taste of his own medicine?’

  ‘You’ve got to get Bracewell to ask the education authority for the enquiry to be held in public, for a start,’ she said. ‘Argue it is clearly in the public interest. Harness the support of the people to help you do that. Get them to tweet, petition, whatever. Also, you need to get this Katy to be at the meeting so she can offer her evidence. Along with anyone else who can offer the panel some insights into what Kraver is really like.’

  ‘I think Katy will draw the line there. This secretary at the school, Lorraine Hannerty, apparently spoke to Juliette about how Kraver forced her to relocate onto a different campus when all this blew up. She was the person who initially warned me about Walker, on the day of the fall.’

  ‘She’d love her day in the sun then, wouldn’t she?’ Violet said.

  ‘And risk getting the sack?’

  ‘You’ll have to convince them, Ben. Unless they want Walker, Young - or whatever he calls himself now - to keep doing what he’s doing. Anyway, come round here and look at this.’

  I tried to ignore the scent of her perfume as I moved round to where Violet was sat. I took in the bewildering array of symbols on the blue screen. At the top of the screen was the word ‘Twitter’. Underneath, text messages vied for attention. I could see, again and again, that each one ended with ‘#benpendleton’.

  ‘I don’t know about social media,’ I said.

  ‘But you have got a Facebook account?’

  ‘Why would I have a Facebook account when I’ve got a family?’

  She laughed. ‘Social media helped you get your profile in the first place,’ she said. ‘All the tweets and retweets on here played a big part in your petition getting signed by so many.’

  ‘Tweets?’

  ‘Yeah. Like little posts. Look.’

  I took in the messages:

  #benpendleton is a hero, speaking the truth to power. Unfortunately, he’s also paved the way for future trials by media.

  #benpendleton daughter victim of assault attempt? You try watching #educatingbristol all the way through. That was an assault on my ears!

  ‘You get a few pricks on here,’ Violet said. ‘It’s a bit of a case of ‘bring out your dead’. Democracy at its finest.’

  ‘A lot of this is young people. Shouldn’t they be outside, trying to get off with each other or something?’

  ‘Sometimes you don’t sound like a teacher.’

  I read some more:

  #benpendleton is a pioneer. The guy proves that despite the cover-ups of the previous generation, social media gives them nowhere to hide. #truthisamatteroftime

  ‘Check out this one,’ Violet said.

  Bravo Pendleton for standing up to the man #benpendleton’

  ‘It’s had 4,500 retweets, that one.’ She took in my baffled expression. ‘So, 4500 people have shared it, Ben.’

  ‘And three thousand said it’s their ‘favourite’. But they don’t even know me!’

  ‘You’re public property now, Ben. There’s memes, too. Did you know that?’

  She clicked a few times, before pulling up a photo of me, standing in front of a whiteboard on which someone had edited an anarchy symbol. A beard and beret had been added to my head. The picture was captioned ‘Che Pendleton’.

  ‘Jesus,’ I said.

  She laughed. ‘Fetching, isn’t it? Better than that nurses uniform. Looks like you’ve started something. You’ve proven that online fame is power. Do you have any idea what a splash it would make if you started tweeting about this directly?’

  ‘You think so?’

  ‘I’m setting up an account for you. You can thank these people personally that way, and make statements of your own.’

  ‘Ok. Mind you, Phillip doesn’t use the internet much either, and he doesn’t seem to be doing too badly. In fact, that reminds me. I’m planning something for him.’

  She closed her laptop. ‘What, to say thank you? What do you get the man who has everything?’

  I leant forward. ‘Phillip wouldn’t admit this, but he’s not been the same since his relationship with Christine ended. Problem is, he doesn’t know how to get back in touch with her. So I’m going to make the first step. On his behalf.’

  ‘Ben Pendleton,’ she said. ‘Teacher, revolutionary, cupid.’

  I felt myself blush. ‘Give over,’ I said.

  TWENTY-TWO

  THE NIGHT BEFORE the hearing our home was overrun for the first time since Marine died. Having dispensed her advice, Violet decided she had to go to a conference that night, and decided to make herself scarce. But I could not deny, even to myself, that I had taken her advice completely on board, by sending a message round and organising a little resistance committee at our home, to prepare.

  Bracewell had been the first to arrive. Ruddy and windswept, he laid his suitcase down by the couch next to the TV and, sitting down, he started to arrange his papers on his lap. Juliette, at the other end of the sofa, closed her laptop. ‘The petition is c
lose to a million’ she said, stretching her arms out above her head. She looked over at me, stood by the window. ‘I was shaking when I scrolled through the messages that had been left for you, Ben,’ she said. ‘There’s some real anger out there about what they’ve done to us.’

  Art arrived a few minutes later, and he noted the number on Juliette’s screen with an almost regal air. I looked over at him as he poured himself a whisky from the decanter and sat on the armchair opposite the TV. ‘You know what this means, don’t you, Simon?’ he said, turning to our solicitor.

  Simon tested a biro, the sharpness of the movement increasing as no ink came out. ‘No, what does it mean?’ he asked.

  ‘It means we can now argue this is clearly a public interest case. As a result, we could -’

  ‘Lobby the teaching association to make Ben’s hearing a public affair,’ I finished, walking into the seating area. Art clicked his fingers, jumping upright with excitement. ‘Exactly,’ he said.

  ‘That way I could channel all this support,’ I said. I thought of Violet’s advice. ‘I want to do that,’ I added, a little too emphatically.

  ‘I can’t see why they would want to let us make the hearing public, though,’ Bracewell said, polishing his glasses on his sleeve. ‘Even if we argue it is in the public interest, why would they consent to having their process, and any possibly flaws in it, made open for scrutiny?’

  ‘Fear,’ I said, beginning to get a handle on the idea. ‘They might permit us out of fear of being ridiculed by the public for another cover-up.’

  ‘In principle you’re correct,’ Bracewell said, exhaling. ‘But in reality, when it comes to injustice, a factor comes into play, which I call ‘realistic rage’. I always measure, on a scale of one to ten, how likely it is that a stranger will bother to take up someone else’s cause. I think this case would score about an eight, because parents will be scared at the thought of this happening with their children. So we should try. If the teachers association were to say yes, and the hearing was to be conducted publically, it would make it much harder for Kraver to try his usual railroading tactics.’

  ‘Harder, but not impossible,’ Phillip answered. He’d seemingly been lingering at our ajar front door.

  ‘Here he is,’ I said. ‘Your usual?’

  He nodded. I moved over to the decanter, and responded to Juliette and Bracewell’s wave for a dram. I poured myself a glass. The fuel of the revolution, I thought, smiling at the memory of the Che Guevara meme.

  ‘If I have any sort of role in this motley Rebel Alliance,’ Phillip said, moving to the spare armchair close to me, ‘it will probably relate to Ben’s presentation of himself at this hearing.’

  ‘You did a good job getting him ready for TV,’ Art said, raising a glass.

  Phillip accepted the tumbler from me, and I placed the others on the glass table before perching on the arm of Juliette’s chair. She moved into the kitchen as Phillip nodded to himself. ‘I know enough about this Kraver fellow to know that he will have done everything he can to create, on the day, a set-up that works in his favour,’ he said.

  ‘He already has,’ Art said. ‘It’s the night before the hearing and Ben still doesn’t have a full itinerary of the charges he’ll have to answer. They’re making sure he’s not prepared to properly defend himself. I think the best use of our time this evening will be to put together a list of imagined charges that we think would damage you most, Ben. That is what they’ll be planning to do. Then we can prepare to answer them. How one earth Kraver has managed to make sure Ben doesn’t get an itinerary before now is beyond me.’

  ‘Same way he convinced the police not to conduct a proper enquiry into Marine’s death,’ I said. ‘By persuading them that he’ll properly look into it at the school - and then not.’

  Simon coughed, nodding. ‘You find in these cases, Ben,’ he said, ‘that all of the administrative methods used in professional circles-confidentiality, whatever else is in vogue- are just tools. Tools that governing bodies can deploy, under the guise of fairness. Some of the most corrupt organisations I have worked with have the most finely developed guidelines that they work to. These guidelines give them more rope to hang their victims.’ Simon stood up. ‘I’ll make some calls to push for a public hearing now,’ he said, padding his pockets for his mobile. ‘I’ll have to put the fear of God into them, drop in a few mentions about the petition. I have no idea if that’ll work, but it’s worth a shot.’

  ‘Definitely,’ I said, as he passed by me to go into the kitchen. ‘Katy and Lorraine said they weren’t prepared to do more than work behind the scenes,’ I said. ‘But if the hearing is made public I bet they won’t mind being in the crowd.’

  ‘You could even call on them, if needs be?’ Simon said.

  ‘I don’t want to force them to risk their jobs.’

  ‘Well, fortunately for you, Juliette’s petition has revealed the weight of public opinion about the school’s behaviour. So Katy and Lorraine would no longer be risking their jobs, as Kraver can’t argue that they’re just making trouble. The public has already made enough noise to confirm that there is a valid issue here.’

  ‘I can convince them,’ Juliette said, bringing a silver carafe of coffee in. With her hair tied up, a new flush of colour was visible in her face. ‘In fact,’ she said, ‘I will phone and tell them that we might be close to victory, but we need their help.’

  ‘I hope you win them over. They both have pretty powerful roles to play in all this,’ Art said. ‘And from what I can tell about this Kraver character, if you don’t have them present I guess he’ll argue that their confidentiality must be protected, and that we can’t mention them during the hearing.’

  ‘Even if they supply written consent?’

  He laughed. ‘Oh yes. He’d love to create a barrier to them getting mentioned, in any way he can. This -’ he gestured at Bracewell in the doorway. ‘Lorraine Hogan is it?’

  ‘Hannerty,’ I said.

  ‘I’m new to all these legal stuff,’ Art breezed. ‘Anyway, this Hannerty could, in effect, play the role of a character witness. Showing the panel what a bully Kraver is. But Katy Fergus is key. We must get her over and drill her,’ he said, raising his voice to Juliette, who, ensconced on the phone, acknowledged his shout with a thumbs-up. ‘You see, the key part of this enquiry will be stopping it becoming a character assassination of you, Ben. It’s most important that we turn the spotlight on the conduct of Kraver, and the school. Katy must put across the evidence she has about Walker and this CRB malarkey. It’ll be key to getting the panel to move the game onto the playing field that we want to play on. Problem is, it is very difficult to get an agenda changed. If you’re seen as trying to change the items on the agenda, Ben, they can argue that you did not engage with the process, which would be very dangerous. You can only do it if the public anger visible at the hearing becomes too great for them to ignore. But if we do move the focus onto Kraver, you’ll need to speak very passionately about what he’s done to you.’

  There is so much to remember, I thought, easing into Juliette’s seat. I had a sudden urge to grip the chair and not move. What would happen, I wondered, if I just stayed in the chair? The determination to stay immobile grew stronger. I had the same feeling as when I’d stood on that bridge. In a way, the fight felt even more futile now than it did then. Who were we kidding, trying to put together an alliance more complex than our enemy? No, I thought. I won’t halt this momentum with my own cynicism. I need to be a leader now. Or at the very least resemble one. I thought of my revelation in the bathroom, during that dark night. How I made the decision that a family was made of building blocks. I looked Art straight in the eye.

  ‘I want to give him both barrels,’ I said. ‘It wasn’t so long ago that I was fighting this alone. Now I have all of you on board the last thing I’m going to do is let you down.’

  Art jumped up clapped a hand on my shoulder. ‘Atta boy,’ he croaked. ‘That’s exactly the spirit we need. But t
here’s just one more thing you need to remember. In these hearings you can always sense, early on, if the outcome is yet to be decided, or if has already been made. Admittedly, my experience of this type of hearing is limited. But I’ve sometimes been at awards ceremonies with clients of mine, and we’re genuinely thinking they’re going to win. But a wink here, a hand clasp there, and you get a clear sense that the whole affair has already been sewn up.’

  ‘What do we do if that happens?’ I asked.

  ‘We tear open the stiches,’ he said, raising his glass.

  Bracewell came in with a smile on his face.

  ‘What is it?’ I asked.

  ‘I’ve just had word from my assistant,’ he said. ‘The coroner has, in response to the petition, recommended that the CPS re-open the enquiry into Marine’s death and consider the possibility of criminal charges.’

  ‘You’re kidding,’ I said. ‘That is great news.’

  ‘That’ll put Kraver on the run tomorrow,’ Art said. He mimed a man turning a huge lamp around, onto me. ‘The spotlight has begun its slow revolution round, onto him,’ he said.

  ‘There’s more,’ Bracewell said, puffing his chest out. I imagined him as a cricketer, defending a vital wicket. Bat poised, glint in his eye. ‘The coroner has also criticized the police for following the advice of Kraver and not investigating everyone involved in the field trip.’

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ I said. I turned to Juliette, who was entering the room. ‘Isn’t that brilliant?’

  ‘Katy and Lorraine will be there,’ she said.

  ‘That can’t have been easy,’ I said, shooting Juliette a look of admiration. The fragile student I had first met would never have made such a call, I thought.

  ‘It’s nothing compared with what you have to do, for us,’ she said.

  I smiled back at her. ‘And Marine,’ I said.

  + + + + +

  It was 10 p.m. by the time everyone left. Juliette’s fixed expression betrayed that she was rallying her mental forces as much as she could. I could see fear in her eyes, fear that perhaps tomorrow my career would be rubber-stamped as ‘over’. As I removed my slippers on the end of the bed, she fussed in the kitchen, tidying and re-tidying. I barely heard our letter box bang, and I was too tired to wonder who was posting something to us at this time.