The parents chattered amongst themselves.
‘To press on with why we are here,’ Manning said, clearing his throat, ‘the second point on the agenda is that, whilst suspended, Mr Pendleton used his on-going pay from the school to attack it. He thereby exploited the resources of the school. Can you confirm for us, Mr Pendleton, whether you were paid for your television appearance?’
I consulted with Bracewell. ‘My client has no knowledge of any payment he will receive,’ he said.
Kraver, with a broad smile, handed Manning a piece of paper.
Manning cast an eye over it, handed it to his neighbour, and looked up. ‘I ask the panel to consider the evidence offered here by Mr Kraver. It details the payment that guests on the Craig Peterson show are paid for their appearance. It is a lot of money.’
A boo rang out behind me. ‘He was raising awareness of the school’s cover-up!’ shouted the man behind me.
‘And making a pretty penny,’ a woman hissed.
‘There will be time for questions at the end,’ Manning said. ‘For the record, I ask for it to be noted that evidence has just been supplied which proves how much Mr. Pendleton was paid for his television appearance. Mr Kraver feels this offers us some relevant insight into Mr Pendleton’s character.’
‘That’s preposterous,’ I said. ‘To accuse me of using my daughter to make money. I haven’t received a penny.’
‘You may find it outrageous, but we have to act on evidence,’ Manning said. ‘I take it there is no response to that charge then? So, the next point is that as a teacher you were known for some aggressive behaviour, in particular towards your line manager.’
‘Does the evidence here relate purely to evidence from my line manager, Mr. Kraver?’ I asked.
Manning consulted with Kraver. ‘Today, it does,’ he said.
I tried to push through my confusion. ‘Then I have to answer that question by asking Lorraine Hannerty to speak. Hannerty was, in the wake of my daughter’s death, quickly relocated to another campus after it became clear that she was the source of this knowledge about Mr Walker -’
‘As I have made clear,’ Manning said. ‘The events of that day are not relevant to this hearing, and as I have already pointed out, neither are matters which we have to consider confidential.’ Kraver whispered into his ear. ‘I am also conscious that we have less than two hours and more charges against Mr Pendleton which we must hear. We must follow the established process.’
‘This is getting out of hand,’ I said, to Bracewell.
‘You’ve got to say something,’ Juliette hissed at him.
Bracewell clutched his papers and stood up. ‘This objection must be heard,’ he said, his voice faltering. ‘Given that the teachers association have deemed this hearing in the public interest, the chair must, in all fairness concede, that in order to determine my clients fitness we understand fully the provocations he has been subjected to.’ The parents hummed in approval. Buoyed, Bracewell spoke more clearly. ‘They have clearly led to any behaviour he is now having to answer for,’ he finished.
The parents roared their approval. They stamped their feet, and clapped their hands. The shock on Manning’s face, at their reaction, seemed to only amplify their shouts. As they increased in volume it occurred to me that Manning had no choice but to accept this point. He had to now hear my criticisms of Kraver, or the meeting would descend into farce.
‘The power of the people,’ Phillip said, leaning over to me. ‘You can’t crush it, Che.’
‘I can see passions are running high,’ said Manning. ‘And I don’t want this to turn into a Saturday night chat show. So I now ask for a short intermission whilst the panel convene to discuss this matter.’
+ + + + +
Bracewell turned sharply to me, as everyone turned to their neighbour to review. ‘It is pretty evident to me that the plant here is Manning, not Preston,’ he said. ‘How Kraver has arranged that, I have no idea, but I think what they are doing by consulting here, is running down the clock. This two hour time limit is completely arbitrary, considering the high amount of public interest in this matter. They just want to create time limits to ensure that little mud can be thrown at them. And all that talk about confidentiality was desperate stuff. We might be starting to get some movement here, Ben.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ I said.
‘You should be,’ Bracewell said. ‘But what you will find is that now they have opened themselves to criticism, they will have to change their tactics. I think you’ll find the charges against you from now on to be long and rambling, so they can run down the clock. That will give the public less time to have their say.’
I was surprised by his cynicism, but the buzzing in my chest gave me no choice but to just agree with him. When the panel reconvened, Manning’s charges about me- from my errors in administration to my not taking breaks- were needlessly verbose. My objections were as passionate as I could make them but Kraver seemed to enjoy my anger. Whenever it seemed as though I was about to land a punch on him, he’d just lean into Manning and whisper to him. The response of Manning would then be that ‘the school is being victimized.’
I realized then how carefully Kraver had arranged the geography of this next part of the hearing. He had positioned himself next to Manning, so he could play courtier to the king. Each accusation was delivered by Manning, with Kraver’s constant vitriol driving him on, like a spur in his side. I knew I could not address Kraver personally, but only through Manning. Any point I wanted to make had to be funnelled through the small channels of fake formality. I decided to ram my argument into those channels so hard that I would break them.
‘I have only one answer to these accusations,’ I said, once the charges had been laid out. ‘If this hearing has so many good reasons to attack me, then why have over a million people signed a petition? A petition arguing that the school should stop attacking me and start looking instead into how my daughter was killed?’
Roars of agreement came from behind me. They were almost feral in their intensity. Kraver opened his mouth to speak, but decided to bide his time.
‘If the charges against me,’ I continued, shouting above the noise, ‘for making errors in my administration, for taking too few breaks, are so powerful, then why are the people behind me screaming their encouragement as I call this hearing to account?’
Phillip, Juliette, Katy, and then Lorraine stood up and applauded. Manning looked over at Kraver, who leant forward.
‘It is wrong to play on people’s fears …’ he began.
I decided it was my turn to not let him speak.
‘Why, if I am such a bad apple, do so many people feel there is a serious miscarriage of justice going on here, with the school covering up their incompetence by allowing a criminal to supervise my daughter? Then whitewashing their investigation, and attacking me, instead of having the guts to address the matter?’
Kraver had a sudden spasm of movement. It was the first time his mask of calm had slipped. I momentarily wondered if I had at last landed a blow. Battling to make himself heard against the cheers, and with the panel turning to him in surprise, Kraver answered me directly. ‘Perhaps because you saw an opportunity to exploit the hard work of others to make yourself money!’ he hissed.
Manning shot him a look.
‘The Crown Prosecution Service,’ I shouted, raising my voice above the loudening roars, ‘have decided that you convinced the police not to fully investigate my daughter’s death, and so they have re-opened their investigation. And yet still you -’ I said, pointing at Kraver, ‘argue that I am the guilty party. You are embarrassing yourself, and this fine school!’
Kraver’s jaw dropped. He looked unable to speak. I remembered then, in a flash of inspiration, Violet’s advice.
‘Look, he can’t even answer!’ I shouted, looking around me.
The people behind me got to their feet and cheered. ‘You should step down!’ a man shouted. ‘You’re a disgrace!’
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bsp; ‘You employed a paedophile!’ one woman screamed.
‘Please,’ Manning said, patting his hands against the air. ‘I ask for calm!’
‘You’ve tried to railroad me into accepting a false narrative, and tried to hoodwink these good people. And you wonder why they are in uproar!’ I shouted.
The blood was surging in my veins. It was pulsing hard in my temple. At that moment, I knew I had changed. I was no longer the shy man who clammed up in public. I was no longer a man who steadied himself in bathrooms. I had fury in my heart, fire in my mouth, and the love of my daughter keeping me strong. Juliette looked up at me. Her lips were trembling.
‘Mr Pendleton, please,’ Manning said. ‘It is only fair you allow Mr Kraver the opportunity to answer.’
‘Let me just say, to the panel, and to all the fine people who have taken their time to come here today,’ Kraver said, ‘that I agree with you. No one welcomes more than me this police investigation into what happened on that school outing. If the CPS, and the board of governors, feel we have the resources to investigate that day more fully then let me tell you, no one is happier about that than I.’
‘You liar,’ Juliette whispered. She repeated herself, the insult louder this time. Amongst the din her voice rang out, clear.
I realized then that she had changed too. She spoke with such confidence that even Kraver, with all his resources, could not look her in the eye. He could not respond to a mother’s pain with only his self-interest.
‘Can we improve the processes we have here?’ Kraver continued, his voice thin with strain. ‘Yes. Must we improve them? Damn right we must.’
‘He is trying to run down the clock,’ Bracewell said. ‘It’s so obvious.’
‘You should stand down! Resign now man, you’re an embarrassment!’ one mother shouted.
‘Will you stand down?’ the man behind me roared.
The clamour was so great, that he had to answer. I sat back, enjoying the moment. The worm was being pinned.
‘I don’t answer to a mob,’ Kraver said, his voice hoarse. ‘I answer only to the board of governors. And while they have full confidence in me, I will carry on doing a job which, by the way, I have been praised for. And one of my first priorities will be to examine the processes which all need to improve.’
‘You were the one who corrupted these processes. How can you improve them?’ the man shouted.
‘People, please,’ Manning said.
‘Why won’t the man answer the question!’ the man shouted. ‘If anyone should be being scrutinized it’s you!’
‘I have answered the question about Mr Walker before, and this is not the time for me to do that again,’ Kraver said. ‘It’s been dealt with, and I won’t rake up old graves.’
‘That is very interesting,’ Bracewell said, sweeping his papers to one side. ‘Do you have any evidence of when that matter was dealt with, Mr Kraver? On what date? After all, it could form part of the police investigation. An investigation which is inching ever closer to you.’
The cheers were now almost deafening.
‘People, please!’ Manning shouted. ‘This hearing is no longer serving the function it was intended to. Our time is up.’
The voices quietened.
‘I will now ask the panel to adjourn,’ he said.
The volume fell. I noticed a thin sheen of sweat on his brow. ‘We will come to a decision regarding Mr Pendleton and his Fitness To Practice,’ he said.
His voice was thin with strain.
TWENTY-FIVE
THE OUTCOME OF the hearing came through by post two days later.
In those intervening days I barely ate or slept. I wasn’t tired though- it was almost as if I was in a state of suspended animation. During those long, waking hours I thought hard about what to do if I was declared unfit to teach. On the one hand I could continue to fight the attacks on me. But on the other hand, if it was decided that I shouldn’t teach, perhaps I should accept that. Perhaps I then needed to see that all along I had been wrong, and that what I had deemed attacks on me were in fact a fair evaluation. It terrified me to think that all I had taken as true might have been false- and that a single typed letter in the post might be about to decide that.
When the letter arrived on the doormat, I somehow knew it contained the verdict. As I stood with it, Juliette huddled behind me. I felt her warmth infusing my back. With shaking hands, I tore the letter open so quickly that I ripped off the top corner of the page.
‘The panel, after much debate, found Mr Pendleton fit to return to work,’ I read.
Juliette let out a sob. As she kissed my cheek, I felt a tear squash against my nose. Whether it was from her or me, I don’t really know. I felt shored up, and that the core of my life had become firm again. I could pay Bracewell - eventually. We could pay our mortgage. I could keep this precious, three-legged animal that I called my family out of the cold.
‘You did it,’ she said, running her hands through her hair. ‘You beat them, Ben. Oh my god, I’m shaking. I can’t believe it. We have our life back. It’s over.’
It was only when the shaking in my hands had subsided that I sat down and inspected the letter.
‘No mention, of Kraver being investigated,’ I said.
‘Have you seen how many people tweeted about it on the day? All the coverage that was online?’ Juliette began to pace around the room as she spoke, her excitement building. I couldn’t remember having seen her like this before, her hands circling animatedly as she moved. ‘The board of directors will have to look into his behaviour now, won’t they?’ she urged.
I decided to dismiss my cynicism. I stepped over, and held her by the shoulders. My relentless, shaking Juliette, who had battled through this with me. ‘We did it,’ I said. ‘We actually did it.’
She nodded, her mouth trembling. ‘You have to return to the school with your head held high,’ she said. ‘It’ll be very hard for Kraver to cling to his job now.’
But Kraver did cling to his job. Even though the local papers were full of the news story in the days that followed, Kraver was quoted sounding as defiant as ever. ‘It’s always been my wish for there to be a thorough investigation into the death of Marine Pendleton’, I read, at a windswept newspaper stand. I had to trace over the words, scarcely believing they belonged on the page. How could one person stand against a tide of justice for so long, and then pretend to be a part of it? In the picture he seemed to have put on weight. ‘As the headmaster of this fine school,’ he’d said, ‘I look forward to continuing to assist in these investigations in every single way that I can. This school won over the hearts of a nation, and it won’t be long before I remind us once more how it did that.’
The newspaper journalist had asked how he could be expected to clear up a mess that he had presided over. ‘I have the full confidence of the board of directors,’ he said, ‘and it is my responsibility to now guide the school out of troubled waters and see that we start to make headlines only for the very best reasons. And I have not one shred of doubt that I am the man to steer that boat.’
+ + + + +
Bracewell, invigorated perhaps by his impending paycheque, arrived early at our house a week later.
Christian had been recently getting into trouble at school, and as part of our strategy to handle the situation I’d been spending more and more time with him in the mornings. Strangely enough, I felt echoes of Marine in Christian around that time. Christian had just started telling me about his imaginary friend, ‘Boogaloo’, as he finished his cereal. This morning Boogaloo was sad, he said. His sadness seemed to be infecting Christian with a sense of lethargy, as he didn’t want to go to school. It was an argument Marine used to make.
I was about to ask him more when I saw Bracewell’s silver Lexus park smoothly outside. Bracewell flashed glances in either direction before tucking his raincoat into itself, and crossing the road to our door.
‘Juliette?’ I called, prompting her to rush out from the bedroom.
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br /> She was still in her ivory nightgown. ‘Bracewell has just arrived,’ I said.
Juliette didn’t seem to mind the sudden intrusion now - perhaps she had grown used to our home having an open door.
Bracewell unleashed a passionate flow of words soon as I opened the door.
‘The evidence found by Katy Fergus led to the police to finally fully evaluate all the evidence they collected on the day Marine fell,’ he began.
His eyes were shining as he looked between us for our reaction. ‘You’re fortunate,’ he gushed, stepping inside, ‘because in the US improperly obtained evidence could be deemed inadmissible. But after some deliberation it was decided that Katy Fergus’ evidence about Walker should be looked at. The police began to properly investigate his past.’
‘Hold on a moment,’ I said, leading Christian into the next room.
I returned moments later. Bracewell was sat down. His side parting had, for the first time, fallen over his eyes but he didn’t try to sweep it back. I imagined him at the cricket crease, steeling himself for the swings that would inch him to victory.
He looked up at Juliette and I, impassively standing there. ‘On the day of her death the Senior Investigating Officer prudently decided to collect clothing samples from all involved, including Walker,’ he said. ‘He also got the Crime Scene Investigators to collect evidence from the crime scene. Why they didn’t properly evaluate it at the time is beyond me. My guess is that Kraver somehow persuaded them not to. But Katy’s evidence unblocked that particular problem. Having dug into Walker’s past, they found that the attack he was convicted of, in his previous life, had been on a girl. What’s more it had been on a windy, deserted moor. The psychologist’s conclusion was that Walker was trying to re-create that attack with Marine regardless of the likelihood that he would succeed.’
An Honest Deceit Page 18
