Dead in the Water

by Matthew Costello

  “As you know, Sarah, I’m one of the governors at the school,” said Tony. “But also, as a solicitor, I do have some rather useful – and quite senior – police contacts that I’ve, um, nurtured, over the years. One of whom kindly did me the favour of telephoning at the weekend with some information – before it went public.”

  Sarah waited for him to continue.

  “Preliminary results from the autopsy on Josh showed that the cause of death was the fall – major trauma to the head,” said Tony. “Not in itself a great surprise, of course. But here’s the rub…”

  Sarah watched as he leaned forward, as if to emphasise the serious nature of what he was about to say.

  “The report also showed that, as well as alcohol, our Mr. Owen had a large quantity of drugs in his system.”

  “What do you mean – drugs?” said Sarah. “Prescription drugs?”

  “No,” said Louise. “LSD.”

  “What?” said Sarah.

  “And also – to be absolutely precise – traces of MDMA,” said Tony.

  “Ecstasy?” said Sarah. “My God.”

  “Quite a cocktail,” said Tony.

  “So far only myself, Tony and the board of governors know about this,” said Louise, “but I’m afraid that the information will soon be in the public domain.”

  “I can’t believe it,” said Sarah leaning back in her chair. “I mean; Josh was Chloe’s geography teacher. I met him at parents’ evening. He seemed so, grounded. Like he’d be the last person…”

  “I agree,” said Louise quickly. “Totally. I didn’t know him for long – sadly – but I’m finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that he was a drug user.” She took a breath. “It seems impossible.”

  Sarah looked from Louise to Tony.

  “Perhaps he took the drugs by accident?” she said.

  “Possible,” said Tony. “But unlikely. I mean – how would that happen? And where did he get them from?”

  “What do the local police think?” said Sarah. “Do they know? Have you talked to Alan?”

  Alan Rivers was Cherringham’s lone policeman. In the past he’d turned a blind eye to Sarah and Jack’s investigations – and sometimes even helped.

  The fact that he liked Sarah – with no encouragement on her part – probably also helped, she knew.

  “Oh, Alan’s seen the file. He says they’re ‘reviewing the situation’ higher up the chain,” said Tony, “but whatever they do, as soon as this goes public, and go public it will…”

  “It’s bad enough if there’s an ongoing drug problem at the school,” said Louise, “but if it turns out staff are involved too…”

  “Is there a drug problem at the school?” said Sarah quickly, not able to stop herself asking the question any parent would ask. “I hadn’t–”

  But before Louise could reply, Sarah saw Mary appear at the door carrying a tray.

  “Ah, wonderful timing,” said Tony. “Here’s our salmon.”

  Sarah watched in silence as the secretary-cum-waitress carefully laid platters of new potatoes, salad and cold poached salmon on the polished table.

  “That looks delicious, Mary,” said Tony. “I think we can take it from here – do close the door as you go, thank you so much.”

  “Louise, please, don’t stand on ceremony,” said Tony, gesturing to Louise to serve herself. As she did, Sarah watched Tony cross the room to a sideboard and return with a bottle of wine.

  “Will you have a teeny glass of Chablis while we discuss the case, Sarah?” he said, offering to pour. “It’s nicely chilled.”

  And just for once Sarah decided that – with all these revelations, and in this fabulous setting – she was going to drink at lunchtime.

  5. School Troubles

  Sarah sliced a bit of the glistening salmon, dipping it into a small pool of dill sauce to the side – totally delicious!

  “Excellent,” said Louise.

  “Mary never fails,” said Tony.

  “It’s wonderful,” said Sarah, politely, though really she wanted an answer from Louise.

  Eventually the head laid down her knife and fork.

  “You asked me if there’s a drug problem at the school,” she said. “I’ve been in the post for less than six weeks – I’ve barely begun to identify the problems, let alone the causes. Bad discipline, poor results, low attendance, bullying, rowdy behaviour. These things can be the result of any number of factors.”

  “But you’ve worked in difficult schools before – places where drugs are an issue,” said Sarah. “Presumably there are tell-tale signs?”

  “True,” said Louise, “but when I arrived I wasn’t particularly looking for them. I mean – here, Cherringham, the Cotswolds – I expected other issues. Not drugs.”

  But Sarah well knew that the lovely Cotswolds could hide some dark secrets.

  “Don’t you believe it,” said Sarah. “This whole area looks so pretty, with its little villages and its quaint pubs and wall-to-wall tourists. But you don’t have to look far under the surface to see we now have the same problems as the big cities.”

  “I realise that now,” said Louise.

  “So, there is a problem?” said Sarah.

  She watched Louise put her knife and fork down, then fold her napkin.

  “On Saturday afternoon, after Tony rang, I called a company I used in London a couple of times. They do drug tests. We did a tour of the upper school yesterday. And found traces of drugs in some of the public areas.”

  Sarah shook her head in disbelief.

  “Louise called me straight away,” said Tony, “to ask my advice.”

  “We met last night. Talked about bringing in the police. I had my doubts that would solve the problem. Sometimes it just makes it go away for a few months – then it bounces back, bad as ever.”

  “So – I suggested you might be able to help, Sarah,” said Tony.

  Sarah looked at her old friend. He knew that she had given up her amateur detecting.

  “Tony told me about the unofficial detective work you’ve got up to, over the years,” said Louise. “Pretty impressive.”

  “We both felt you might be able to find things that the police can’t.”

  Sarah sat back in her chair, Tony and Louise’s gaze locked on her.

  Her mind was racing.

  On the one hand, as a mother, she wanted to rush up to the school right now, grab her children and take them home to safety.

  But she knew that wasn’t going to solve anything.

  She also felt overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. What did she know about drugs? With Jack alongside her, then yes, maybe it was something she could take on. But alone?

  No way.

  “I’m sorry, really sorry, both of you,” she said, pushing her plate to one side. “But I’m not the person you are looking for. And Tony – since Jack went back to the States, I’ve been working full time, building the business, moving house. Completely swamped. I don’t have time to gallivant around pretending I’m some kind of detective.”

  “You never had to pretend, Sarah – you always made a very good detective,” said Tony. “A fine detective. Better than many I have met who carry a badge.”

  “That’s kind of you, Tony. I appreciate it, but really – I wouldn’t know where to begin. And my kids are at the school – I can’t go haring round the village searching for drug dealers. It’s madness.”

  “Sarah, it’s precisely because your kids are at the school that makes you the right person to do this,” said Louise. “You know what makes them tick, you know the school, the village, who everybody is.”

  “So does Alan Rivers – and he’s the one you should be talking to. Not me.”

  “Delightful as our local detective constable is,” said Tony, “he is not a patch on you, Sarah.”

  “Tony, again, I appreciate your compliments, I really do, but I’m not going to change my mind. I’m sorry.”

  She stood up and took her handbag from the chai
r next to her.

  “And now I really must get back to work. To my real work. Louise, it’s been lovely meeting you properly.”

  “A pleasure meeting you too, Sarah,” said Louise, smiling and reaching out with her hand.

  “I hope for all our sakes, you get to the bottom of this,” said Sarah shaking her hand. “And I am truly sorry I can’t help.”

  “I quite understand,” said Louise.

  But Sarah could see that although Louise might understand – she was deeply disappointed. And Sarah hated being the reason for that disappointment.

  “Can I see you to the door, Sarah?” said Tony, coming round the table and putting a hand gently on her shoulder.

  “Of course,” said Sarah.

  With Tony at her side, she went out of the boardroom and down the wide staircase.

  ***

  At the bottom of the stairs, before he opened the door, Tony paused and turned to her.

  “I know you think that was your final answer, Sarah,” he said, “but humour me a little. Think about the situation. Know that I have complete faith in you. And then ask yourself whether you think the police will solve this.”

  Sarah opened the door latch herself.

  “It’s their job, isn’t it? I really have decided, Tony.”

  “I know, I know. But let’s for the moment pretend you haven’t. Call me in the morning after you’ve slept on it. That at least?”

  “I really don’t want to sleep on it. I–”

  “Say around nine-ish, when you get to the office? I shall be in early, expecting your call.” He smiled and she knew she could not deny her friend. “You could do that for me, yes?”

  Sarah shook her head, then smiled.

  “Tony Standish, you can be infuriating at times. I won’t change my mind, sleep or no sleep.”

  “As you wish, my dear,” he said with a smile. “But just in case you do.”

  Then he patted her on the shoulder and she stepped out into the warm midday sunshine.

  And all the way back to the office, in fact all afternoon as she worked at her desk, Sarah’s head buzzed with the dark, scary secrets that Louise and Tony had shared with her.

  Her own kids – at school at that very moment.

  And the gnawing fact that for the first time in many years she’d turned down a job because she was scared of it.

  And that thought hurt.

  Hurt a lot.

  6. Fatherly Advice

  Sarah had picked up groceries from the new farm shop just outside the village.

  For once, she wanted to get one step ahead of the kids and have a proper evening dinner all together.

  But when she turned onto the small rutted road down to her new place, she saw that she had a guest.

  Her dad’s Range Rover was parked outside.

  She hurried in, lugging two heavy bags and – as well as Riley’s barking – she heard the whirring noise of a drill.

  She saw her dad picking up a wooden shelf and sizing it up for a position on the wall in her new study-cum-office.

  “Dad?”

  “Oh – I didn’t expect to see you, Sarah.” He gestured at the half-completed shelves. “Was hoping to get these up, books in place, before you came home.”

  “Why, thank you. I would have got around to it eventually.” She put her two bags of shopping down. “Though my ‘eventually’ list is getting rather large.”

  Her father put down the electric drill. “I imagine it is. Lot to do, taking on a bigger place. Things to set up and so on. And – raise my amazing grandchildren!”

  She knew that her parents loved Daniel and Chloe probably as much as she did.

  Plus – Michael had got the ’son’ he always wanted, one to share his enthusiasm for miniature soldiers and football.

  Sarah picked up the bags again and walked into the kitchen.

  Michael followed and started emptying a bag beside her.

  “Your mum and I don’t know how you do it sometimes, Sarah. Your business. The kids. Now this place.”

  Holding a bag of pasta in his hand, he stopped and touched her shoulder.

  “You know how proud we are of you, hmm? The life you’ve made here.”

  “Thanks, Dad. I know that.”

  A big smile from Michael.

  Then she looked at her watch. Such moments maybe weren’t to be rushed.

  If anything, Sarah was well aware of the passage of time these days.

  “I’ve just got time for a spot of tea before I go and pick up Chloe from drama. Like some?”

  “Of course!”

  And Sarah filled the kettle, a relic from the old house but one whose hearty whistle she loved.

  ***

  They sat at the table, having shared basic updates.

  How’s everyone feeling?

  School going well for the kids?

  Mum’s garden? Has it survived all this rainy weather?

  When all that had been said and it was nearly time for her to shoot off, she looked at her dad, suddenly – needing advice and feeling that he was the one to ask.

  “I had lunch with Tony Standish today,” she said.

  “Oh really? Lucky you!” said Michael. “How is he? Haven’t seen him in ages.”

  “He was delightful – as ever,” said Sarah. “And – as ever – there was a reason for the invitation…”

  Sarah told him about the meeting with Louise. And Tony’s request.

  “What do you think I should do, Dad?”

  For a few minutes he said nothing. Sarah topped up the teapot. Definitely a conversation that required another cup of Earl Grey.

  He looked away from the table as if taking great care over his thought, and then his words.

  “Well?” she finally said. “Do I say yes?”

  He smiled. “Well, that is a good question, Sarah. And I will give you my answer. Mind you, I’m sure it won’t match the one you’d get from your dear mum. We don’t always see eye to eye. This answer may be one of those moments.”

  Now – Sarah was intrigued.

  “What you, and Jack did, here in Cherringham, well, it was – so unexpected.”

  “Tell me about it. Jack used to call it ‘Nancy Drew goes to the Cotswolds’!”

  Michael nodded and smiled a small smile. But he continued.

  “But it was more than that, Sarah. In my opinion, and I think the opinion of many who call this village home, it was important. The people you both helped? The secrets you unravelled? I’ll be honest with you, much as I admire our very own Alan Rivers, it never would have happened without what you did.”

  Sarah took a sip of her tea.

  She hadn’t expected this response.

  “What Jack did,” she said, “I mean, a big-time New York detective? He was the–”

  But Michael’s right hand shot up, stopping her.

  “Hang on there. I know what he told me. I know how important you were. To the work you did. To him.”

  Jack.

  She didn’t think about him that much these days. Not since he went quiet a few weeks back.

  A year is a long time, she thought. People move on.

  But, being honest with herself, she knew that not a week went by when she didn’t wish he was here.

  Grabbing a pint at the Ploughman’s.

  Dinner at the Spotted Pig.

  Or a family meal, with the kids peppering him with questions (which Jack absolutely loved): about the city, about crime.

  And their cases…

  “You were a big part of that, Sarah. Jack told me you have a real gift. Developed some real skills.”

  She nodded. “We worked well together, Dad.”

  “Right. A great team. So now what? Someone needs help? At your kids’ very own school? And it’s help you could give.”

  Michael looked away.

  “To be honest, Sarah, I know how busy you are. But if you could find the time, to help the new head, even a little bit…”

  He stopped.
<
br />   And for a moment neither of them said anything.

  Maybe, Sarah thought, this is why I asked him. Maybe… I knew what he’d say. Don’t we tend to take advice that we feel deep inside makes sense?

  She tried one more line of argument.

  “But Dad – this case – it’s different. Darker. Involves drugs. Don’t you think all that is better left to the police?”

  Michael held her gaze for a second.

  “I think I said that your mum might have a different answer here, yes? And I certainly wouldn’t want you ever to take any risks. Ever. You understand that, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “But I also think that you have learned how to be careful. I trust–” and now he leaned forward, and with a playful ‘knock’ on the top of her head, “you are always using that great brain of yours. You’ll take care, no matter what.”

  She nodded.

  She had asked – and she had her answer.

  “You think I should call Tony? Tell him I’ll help?”

  Michael leaned back in his chair.

  “Oh, not for me to tell you what to do, Sarah.”

  And she laughed at that.

  “Anyway, I’d better get back to those shelves. Want to get it all done by the time you come home.”

  Michael stood up, and Sarah did as well – definitely time to head off. But first…

  “Thanks, Dad. You know I love you to bits?”

  Michael moved past her, hurrying back to his drill, the shelving.

  “That’s what keeps me going, Sarah. And those kids of yours! Now–”

  He picked up the drill and gave the trigger a quick pull, making a staccato whine.

  “–back to work.”

  “Me too.”

  Except, as Sarah hurried to the door, her Rav-4 outside, she knew she had a call to make when she got home.

  To give Tony Standish the news.

  I’m on board.

  7. Flying Solo

  Sarah sat in the reception area of Cherringham High School feeling as if she was waiting for a job interview.

  In a way, she thought – maybe I am. A test, to see if I really am an investigator. On my own.

  She looked across at the secretary’s office.